The Wonder of the Worlds
by l3ori
Summary: The beginning of her journey involved a fair amount of Dust, a shockwave that knocked her out of her senses, and a dangerou explosion. But that was pretty much all she could remember.
1. 0 - The Beginning of Her Journey

The beginning of her journey involved a fair amount of Dust, a shockwave that knocked her out of her senses, and a dangerou explosion. But that was pretty much all she could remember.

Next thing she knew, she was running through the wildland with a small bundle tucked safely under her arms.

She should be confused. She recognized that. But a burning determination in her heart kept her feet moving as fast as they could carry her exhausted body.

The memory flooded back at her.

The fire. The castle. The ambush. The Grimm.

And suddenly she felt a dread in her stomach that she somehow missed before.

She looked over her shoulder. It was exactly what her brain had predicted. Dark shapes swarmed at her heels, snarling and biting at her.

She turned back to the road ahead. The fallen branches came a bit too late into her view. She tripped.

Ruby Rose never thought she would die like this, like a failure.

She barely managed to roll away from the swiping claw of the Beowolf. A lucky and blind dodge.

However, her exhaustion and distress slowed her mind and clouded her judgement. The second Beowolf caught her left thigh.

Ruby felt her flesh split open under the sharpness. She was too weak to generate enough Aura to protect herself, or to heal the wound. Blood poured out from the severed artery.

She was going to die.

Ruby sucked in a shaky breath and pushed herself harder. She may die from this, but she would be damned if she did nothing about it.

The bundle in her arms stirred. She looked down. The parcel in her arms, covered by layers of the most endurant fabric, twisted and whined.

She jumped over another fallen trunk and winced at the pain. The wind lifted the cover of her cargo.

A small face.

Ruby was half stunned to see the infant. But just when the surprise caught up to her, so did the memory.

The castle. The pillar she could not move. The blood.

A few stray white hairs twirled in the wind. She felt her eyes watered as she recalled the terrible event.

It didn't make any sense. But at the same time, it made perfect sense. She remembered her best friend pleading for her to run away with the child. She remembered the helplessness when she realized she had failed to protect one of the most important people in her life.

It should not make any sense, really. Because she also remembered fooling around with her teammates in one lazy afternoon, and she remembered the Dust and the explosion.

That memory did not fit with anything she had slowly come to accept as her reality at this moment. Was it just a dream? Did she doze off while on the run to seek out her sister and her partner, and that the incident with the Dust was merely a fantasy?

She would never know. Not in this life, anyway.

Her distraction cost her dearly. She did not see the tusk coming at all, but her intuition prompted her to jump - lifting the infant just high enough to avoid any harm, but not enough to move herself out of harm's way.

The pain was excruciating, she opened her mouth to cry out, only to realize that she was already screaming.

She fell to the floor, tumbling against the mud. The infant wailed in protest. Ruby wondered if the little girl knew what was happening.

The darkness was upon her. The shadows snapped their jaws, jerked with their claws, and twitched in anticipation.

She struggled to her feet.

"You will not take her." She wheezed out.

The voice surprised her. She sounded much older than she remembered. But that was of little consequence now.

"By Oum's name. I will not fail again."

A surge of power coursed through her vein. She screamed and lunged forward. The baby echoed her cries with her own, and she held on just a little tighter with her right arm. Her left arm had drawn out her scythe. It was broken, shattered, beyond repair, much like herself. But it was still sharp enough to deal with the enemy.

She fought and fought for what seemed like an eternity. Her vision had blurred until everything seemed like a patch of darkness. Her body was pushed beyond its limit.

Yet she continued fighting, tearing her pursuers into sheds.

She fell when the last of her enemy dissipated into thin air. It was her end and she knew it. Darkness evaded the corner of her eyes, and she saw her past flashing before her eyes.

The castle. Her best friend in an elegant dress. Her sister grinning happily as she lifted her wife into the air and spun around. The awkward dance she shared with her best friend. The birth of the child. The exhausted but content smile on her best friend's face. Herself weeping.

The open courtyard where they spent countless hours talking about nothing. The statues in front of the school entrance. The Dust. The explosion. Someone yelling her name.

She felt tired. But she opened her eyes once more.

Miraculously, her vision was clear. Maybe this was what people called a flashback. The last strength before a life perish. She didn't know.

All she knew was that, she saw the baby opening her eyes and looking directly into her own.

Her cerulean eyes looked just like Weiss.

* * *

 **A/N: I forgot to explain something yesterday when I posted this (I had a drink too many to function properly).**

 **This is the piece I was talking about in the FS A/N. If you don't want any spoiler from this point on, I suggest stop scrolling down. Otherwise, here are some warnings:**

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 **1) This story will have a center plot-line. However, the majority of it will be about the different universes I had in my backpocket.**

 **2) Each of those universes will take up an undetermined amount of chapters. Some might be a short one-shot, while others might be multi-chapter stories. I haven't decided yet.**

 **3) This is my "stress relief" story. I'll likely pour in whatever idea to the story. Hence there really isn't a genre to describe what this is going to become. Yeah, there might be all sorts of pairings and whatnot. I'm not ruling them out for the moment. I'll try giving out warning beforehand if some people are allergic to certain pairings.**

 **Again, thanks for giving this a read. And my gratitude to all who have commented and fav'ed this story. Welcome to this wild journey.**


	2. 1-1 Arriving

**World 1: The World Where Everything is Perfect, Almost**

 **Part 1: Arrival**

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* * *

 **.**

When Ruby opens her eyes again, she is disoriented, nauseated, and above all, confused.

It takes her some time to gather herself and recall what had happened. The fire. The destruction. The cries for help. The feeling of snow crunching beneath her boots.

The child.

She leaps from her position, her mind racing a thousand miles a minute as panic gripped her heart.

Where's the child?

She looks around frantically. The snow-covered land is gone now. There are some trees around, but they spread out so thinly that it cannot possibly be the forest which she traveled through. It feels different. Wrong, almost. She cannot sense the chill of winter. In fact, it feels warm and pleasant. The scent of hundred different kinds of blossoming flowers assault her nostril.

Ruby feels lost.

 _Where am I?_ She wonders. _And how long have I been out?_

She winces when an unexpected sting shoots through her left leg. Instinctively, she looks down. It is not anything she could have anticipated.

For once in her life, she is not wearing any sort of skirt. A pair of formal-looking black pants hugs her lower-body. She catches sight of an equally formal-looking black jacket with red hem. The kind that officers and important people wear. She does not remember owning this sort of outfit.

Looking a bit more closely, she finds a handful of medals draping over her chest. Bronze, silver, and gold. They shine proudly under the sunlight, even if their wearer bears no memory of what they stand for.

But strangest of all, it is how she feels. Ruby feels completely different. Aside from the slight dizziness, she feels perfectly healthy. This is the body of someone in their prime. The muscles are tight like hard rubber, packed with incredible strength and disciplined to serve her at a moment's notice.

It is everything the exhausted Ruby Rose, who let the love of her life marry another man without ever telling her love how she truly felt, who failed to protect her love, and who escaped with her lover's daughter, desperately wished she would have when the Grimm was upon her.

Isn't that what she is?

She stretches her limbs experimentally, cautiously. She is convinced that any moment now, she will wake up from this wild dream, and be back at the snowland, surrounded by the forest and its darkness.

Perhaps her delusion will be cut short by the claw of other predators, and she will finally be reunited with her lost love again.

-or, maybe she will wake up in the medical wing of Beacon, surrounded by her teammates. Her sister will fuss over her. Blake will ask her if she is feeling alright while pulling her partner back. And Weiss will be scolding her for-

-wait, what?

Ruby blinks and shuts her eyes tightly. Images flashes through her head. Images that make absolutely no sense, but somehow seem more real than anything she has ever experienced.

They were in the courtyard. They were arguing about something. She remembers how the gentle breeze lifted Weiss' alabaster hair and how she had tucked her ponytail behind while trying to concentrate. Blake had put down her newly acquired fiction to aid Weiss in adjusting her Dustcraft and Aura flow. Yang stood beside them, with a vial in her head, looking bored. She smiled at her and ruffled her hair like how she used to when they were kids. She said something.

What did she say?

Ruby falls to the ground clutching her head. The images come and go in flashes. Some of them familiar and bring smile to her face. Some hazy and make her want to cry. Some of them fit perfectly to her memory, and some feel entirely out of place.

Wait. Memory? What memory? She is Ruby Rose. A nineteen-year-old Huntress-in-Training before her entire team decided to enlist in the Valeon Army to drive back the Grimm threat. They were the best team in the kingdom of Vale. They drove back hundred of Grimm, saved thousands of innocent lives. The army even gave them special medals for each extraordinary achievements they made. She was promoted to captain and began receiving special training. She was going to be-

She is twenty-three.

She is sixteen.

No. She is nineteen.

-she was surrounded by Grimm. She thought she would die a hero. The Grimm laughed at her naivety when they clawed and bit through her flesh and ripped out her soul. There were voices in her cries for help going unanswered. Boiling rage that erode the mind. Blinding hatreds that sucked out a person's ability to sympathize. Betrayals. Sadistic laughters. They were everywhere.

Ruby feels like her head is about to explode.

She gasps and fails on the ground. Her hands reaching out to the only person that could save her.

But who is that person?

She doesn't know. Her finger grasps at nothing.

She bashes her head against the soft soil. She wails and screams silently. This is all wrong. The memories fuse together like metal melting against her skin. They are not supposed to coexist.

She is a student in her teenage year trying to fit in with bunch of other people who are older and more experienced than her. All she needs to worry about is maintaining good grades, sparring with other trainees, and trying not to fall asleep in classes.

She is a freelance Huntress who serve humanity. Her team stay in touch, but not together after their graduation. She roams Remnant by herself, although she still bumps into associates every so often. She is living her dream even if she still feels alone.

She is both of them, but at the same time she is neither.

She is a colonel in the Vale Army, one of the best fighters in the kingdom and a rising star. She commands a squad of 20 Huntsmen, all older than her but follows her with their undying loyalty.

 _You are such a child._

She sees Weiss when they first met in the Emerald Forest, when she saved her from the Nevermore and the Deathstalker.

 _You will always be my best friend. My partner. Don't you ever forget that._

Then she sees Weiss in her wedding dress, the night before the ceremony. She looked beautiful under the moonlight, even though she was crying. Her body felt cold in her arms.

 _You are someone special, Ruby Rose. Whether you want to admit it or not._

And there is Weiss with her hair undone, sitting next to her atop the dormitory rooftop. She was leaning against her shoulder, and Ruby could smell white lily when Weiss smiled.

 _You are special to me._

She presses her face against the ground. The flashbacks are confusing and contradicting to one another. They feel like pieces from different jigsaw puzzles somehow finding their ways into the same toy box. They are broken pieces of dreams too real to be fantasies.

What are these memories? Why do they not form a coherent history? Why does she remember a childhood where her mother disappeared after a mission, but also a childhood where both Yang and herself were orphaned at a young age?

What did she wear to that dance at the end of their first year? It was a black dress. She had such trouble walking in those heels.

Or maybe it was a red dress with flat shoes. And she did not even stay there that long, because she had snuck up to the roof with Weiss.

Ruby struggled to think.

No. She did not even go. She was out in a mission with her team. The festival was cancelled altogether because of the war, but there was a party for the young soldiers. They all went with their uniforms.

That day was also Ruby's birthday, so Yang got a tailor to make her a set of ten uniforms. Blake helped paying the fees. And she could still remember them smiling at her when she tried on each one - the dress uniform for formal occasions, the slightly less fancy and more flexible suits for demonstrations, and the light activewear.

And Weiss, Weiss gave her two silver crosses to pin her red cape over her uniform. At the night of the party, she even clasped them on for Ruby with her very hands.

Ruby looks down at herself again. And surely, there they are, reflecting the same shade of color as her eyes.

She stares at them, lost in thoughts and memories.

She does not hear footsteps approaching from behind her, nor does she notice when it suddenly seizes.

"Ruby?"

It is only when the person calls out to her that she realizes she is not alone. The voice is familiar. One she has known for as long as she can remember and will never mistake.

Ruby spins around, relieved that her sister has found her. A small smile begins to form around her lips.

And it freezes when she sees Yang with a stunned expression, standing not ten paces away. She is wearing neither the short-sleeved leather jacket, nor the black sleeveless turtleneck with brown vest. The military jacket - even with the top two buttons undone - looks odd on the usually boisterous brawler.

"Oh God."

Yang whispers, and blinks several time in rapid succession. Her expression shifts from surprise to one of anguish, as if seeing Ruby physically hurts her somehow.

Ruby stares back. Something stirs in her brain. Pieces of memories dart through, a certain dread beginning to surface.

Yang drops the paper bags she is carrying and all but sprint toward her. She crushes her sister in a tight hug, burying her face deep in her embrace. It is as if she has just recovered something she has lost a long time ago.

"Yang?" Ruby calls out hesitantly. She is still confused as to why Yang would react this strongly to her.

She feels Yang sobbing into her hair as she continues holding her protectively in her arms. She is holding on like her life depends on it.

"Yang?" She tries again, squeezing words out from her pressured lungs. "What's going on? Where's the kid?"

Yang pulls away slightly to look at her.

"What kid?" She asks in utter confusion. But before Ruby can elaborate, tears start welling up in her eyes, and she crush her back into her embrace again. "Nevermind that. I'm so glad to see you again."

Ruby wants to protest, she wriggles a little, trying to get free from Yang's embrace.

But she stops when she hears what Yang says next.

"God, Ruby." Her sister chokes through sobs. "I'm so sorry."

"What?" She asks. She is getting worried. "What're you sorry for? What's going on?"

When Yang pulls back, she is crying in earnest. She looks broken. And suddenly, Ruby feels the dread in the pit of her stomach grows.

"You don't remember?" Yang's lips quiver as she murmured softly. "Oh Dust. You don't remember."

"What don't I remember?"

Yang takes a deep breath. Her hands tremble as she put them on Ruby's shoulders.

"Ruby, forgive us." She whispers. "We're sorry. We're sorry we had to kill you."


	3. 1-2 This Perfect World

**Part 2: This Perfect World**

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* * *

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Ruby can hardly believe what she is hearing.

"You mean to tell me," she starts slowly. "That Weiss and Blake had been best friends since kindergarten?"

"Well, yeah." Yang looks at her, slightly puzzled and concerned. "And Blake helped you out on the first day of Beacon when you tripped over Weiss' crates of Dust and caused a small explosion. Don't you remember?"

She does, and that is the problem.

Roman Torchwick is Vale's upper-class merchant. She remembers that because Weiss mentioned him several times whenever they participated in some kind of grand events. Fundraisers, festivals, competitions, or ceremonies. He had been a big sponsor to all of those. From what Blake and Weiss told the sisters (since they never actually met him personally), he is quite a charming gentleman with a good taste of wine and classical music.

Cinder Fall? Of course Yang knows that name too. She is one of their professors at Beacon. A caring teacher who sacrificed herself when the Grimm breached Beacon's defense a couple years ago. They have a monument for her and all those who had lost their lives during the assault. She was one of Ruby's greatest supporter.

White Fang? Never heard of that. A group of extremists seeking revenge on the prejudiced Human? That's ridiculous.

Oh, and Adam Taurus? He is a government official at Vale. Why does Yang know that? Because Blake stayed in the same orphanage he did. They still write to one another, you know. Those two are like siblings. They had all met Adam a couple times. He always wears sunglasses and looks intimidating if you don't know him well, but he is actually a pretty nice guy, really. He even became Yang's sparring partner before Blake threatened to ignore both of them if they kept spending so much time in the arena and coming back with broken noses and bruised faces.

Ruby feels dizzy. This has to be a dream. It simply _has_ to.

Because how else can anyone explain why she remembers her sister reading stories Summer used to read to them while tears streamed down her face? Or of Weiss standing in front of the window in their dorm telling them the war between her family and the White Fang? Or the helplessness she felt as she watched Blake struggling with her past demon and pushing herself beyond exhaustion and nearly toppling over?

It does not matter that she remembers she skipped two years to join her sister at Beacon because her mother made a recommendation to Professor Ozpin, not because she fought Roman Torchwick.

It doesn't matter that Raven has been part of both Yang's and her childhood. It doesn't matter that she and Yang used to spend weekends at the Branwen siblings' house. It doesn't matter that Ruby grieved with her "Aunt Raven" when Summer passed away few years ago.

None of these matter.

Because she knows of a different reality, a reality in which Torchwick is a crime lord and Cinder Fall wants them dead. She knows of a world where the Human and Faunus fought a bitter war. Where Yang and her both lost their mothers at a young age.

Because she remembers vividly of all the sorrows they have suffered through. All the hurts they caused each other. She remembers overcoming their differences and sharing their thoughts and creating unforgettable memories during trivial daily tasks.

She wants more than anything to accept this world. This reality. But she has the strangest feeling that if she does, is it betrayal to everything she holds dear.

"Ruby?"

Yang calls softly.

She turns to look at her sister. She knows she should be happy to be here, but she cannot.

The Yang in front of her looks much softer, much happier. But at the same time, more fragile and broken than she remembers.

It is exactly the Yang her brain says she has always known, but the very opposite of everything her heart tells her.

"Are you ready?" Yang asks.

"Ready for what?"

Yang pauses. There is something sharp and painful boiling in her lilac eyes.

"To see Blake and Weiss."

It is only then that Ruby realizes they are standing in front of a small house. Yang is gripping the doorknob tight enough that her knuckles turned white.

Idly, Ruby registers her amazement that the door has not bursted into a million pieces under what has to be tremendous force from her sister's palm.

And then her brain processes the words and the breath caught in her throat.

She knows the Blake and Weiss she is about to meet will be drastically different than what she expects. The idea frightens her.

Gentle wind rustles the leaves on the ground. It touches her cheek, urging her to be brave.

In her mind's eyes, she sees Blake laughing at all the bad jokes her sister told them, replacing the image of a slightly weary girl with her ribbon rolling her eyes but twitching her lips slightly upward.

She sees Weiss gracefully curtseying at her after the initiation but holding her head proud and high, etching away the scene of an awkward-looking heiress trying to reconcile without directly apologizing.

She smells peppermint and lavender. She takes a long breath, before shakily exhaling the words.

"I'm ready."

She is not.

Yang releases the handle to give her a tight hug - still much milder than she expects - before pushing the door open with an unnatural "we're back!"

For a few brief moments, the memories she has denied overwhelmed all her doubts, as her black and white teammates turn to the door simultaneously and they lock eyes. Time stands still, and suddenly more memories come crashing down on her.

Her knees buckle, giving way under the pressure of the pain.

"Ruby!"

Yang catches her before she fully collapses. And within seconds the other two join, holding her close with trembling hands and frantic questions regarding her well-being.

"I'm… I'm fine." She says stubbornly and pushes herself up.

She pats Yang's arm weakly, smiles at Blake (glad to see her cat ears standing in open air), and turns to Weiss.

She stares.

There is no scar over her left eye.

"Ruby?" Weiss looks back at her. Her voice is soft and soothing and warm, like the first snowfall. "Ruby? Are you okay?"

This is the same voice that comforted Ruby when she learned Summer had passed away. The same voice that had sang for her, to her.

She can barely recognize that voice.

"Tell me what happened." She chokes. "Tell me everything, from the beginning."

.

Ruby Rose was a fifteen-year-old prodigy who had everything going for her.

She was advanced two years when her sister graduated from Signal Academy under the recommendation of her mother Summer Rose. On her first day, she befriended the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, the scholarship student Blake Belladonna, and a boy who came from the noble Arc family.

She, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were teamed together after initiation. They became good friends quickly, supporting and strengthening one another.

Like all great teams, they bickered and grew from their conflicts. But they were minor things that they easily overcame. There was never anything serious that threatened to break them apart.

By their second year, they had become one of the best and most famous team in Beacon, surpassing even some of their seniors.

When they graduated, they vowed to stay together and enlisted in the Vale Army in response to the growing Grimm threat. Ruby raised quickly through the rank, partially thanks to her outstanding combat skill, and partially due to her popularity among the soldiers.

The war was favoring their side. They had a bright future ahead of them.

But everything changed the day when they were ambushed in a mission.

Cut off from any reinforcement, the leader of Team RWBY made a decision. She sacrificed herself, staying behind to fight the creatures of darkness, delaying them so that her teammates could escape. She thought she would meet an honorable death.

She was wrong.

Ruby was captured. They took her back to their lairs, and tortured her mind and her body day and night.

Of course, none of them could have possibly guessed that. Everybody thought she had died bravely in the battle. They mourned her passing and swore to wipe every last Grimm from the surface of Remnant.

As their tears soaked the earth, the young prodigy screamed in pain and despair as the darkness suffocated her, slowly transforming into something else.

One year later, just as the Huntsmen was about to strike at the core of the Grimm, the unthinkable happened.

Ruby Rose reappeared, but not as the bright young girl everybody remembered her by. She became one of the deadliest champion of the darkness.

Yang tried to save her little sister. She didn't let anyone stop her. Not the generals or the her family or her friends. She dedicated herself to mend her mistake, to salvage the last bit of humanity she still believed exist in the husk.

Nobody had the heart to stop her.

Maybe they all wanted to believe that Ruby could come back, too.

But whatever hope they might have shattered quickly.

In a fierce battle, the Grimm Ruby severely injured Yang, breaking both her arms and legs. And once again, dreams gave way to the cold reality.

Weiss and Blake retreated with their shattered teammate. Yang was pulled from the front line indefinitely, and people would have been outstanding if they stayed with her. But they chose to come back.

They reached some sort of silent agreement that they must be the ones to put an end to the Grimm. Although they never specified how. They just knew it had to be either one of them.

The battle took a turn for the worse, and soon the Hunters found themselves struggling against the never-ending waves of Grimm. They were exhausted and shaken. Many had fallen in the hands of the new champion, and many more had lost hope.

There was once when Weiss could have finished the nightmare once and for all. But when the time came and she looked at the face of her former partner, she simply could not bring herself to do the job. Memories swarmed her mind and clouded her vision as her hand shook and her rapier fell from her fingertips.

She almost lost her life that time. She would have, if not for Blake.

The Faunus woman, as devastated as she was, had accepted that the Grimm was no longer the Ruby they cherished. She was desperate to uphold the legacy of her young leader, and hence was determined to end it all.

When Ruby broke free from Weiss' restraint and charged the heiress mercilessly, Blake knew they had reached the point of no return. Maybe they had crossed that line long ago, but that as long as the hope that Ruby could still return still burned in their hearts, they would not be able to see the dark path.

She rushed forward to push her friend away. She saved Weiss' live, but almost at the cost of her own.

After that, Weiss changed.

She withdrew even further from the world. Outside, she was the cold and merciless Ice Queen of Atlas. The formidable winterstorm that drove fear into the mindless Grimm. But to her closest friends and families, they saw a fragile, broken little girl, who shouldered the burden of ending the person who was perhaps the most important to her.

They knew how Weiss felt about Ruby before everything went wrong. They had always known. They teased both of them when they were in school, enjoying the uncertainty between the partners by throwing knowing looks at one another. Now, they kept their silence because they knew the happy ending they had been expecting would never come.

Eventually, Weiss found the courage and the opportunity. She plunged her rapier through the Grimm's chest, putting a stop to the advantage of the Grimm.

That was how the history would remember that fateful moment. Just like how they would remember Ruby Rose as the brilliant and beloved Huntress who was taken before her time.

Few would know the heart-wrenching hollar of the young heiress as she reached out to the vanishing black petals.

And because the corpse of the Grimm vanish into thin air, the grave was empty under the tomb that carved the name "Ruby Rose". It remained as such in the hearts of all her associates. Her teachers, her parents, and her friends.

Ruby Rose was remembered as the fallen hero.

.

"That was…"

Ruby shuts herself up, still unsure how to act or what to say.

"Awful?" Yang offers humorlessly. "Pathetic? Cowardly? I can go on all da-"

"Yang, stop." Blake muffles her with a palm. "We talked about this. If it's anybody's fault, we are all equally guilty."

"...I was only going to say 'wow'. Really. And Blake is absolutely right."

Ruby puts an arm around her sister's shoulder and rubs her arm gently. She can feel the toned muscles rippling underneath the jacket.

It feels… different. From the solid metal frame of the Yang who married Blake. And from the energetic restlessness of the Yang who ruffled her hair in the courtyard that afternoon.

Her memory is still fuzzy, but she is certain of one thing.

"It's not any of your fault. I mean it."

Yang looks like she is about to cry. But before any tears could spill from those pained lilacs, she buried her face into Blake's shoulder.

"Does it… does it help you to remember?" Weiss swallows. She looks almost fearful. "I can't possibly imagine what you have gone through, Ruby. I'm just glad that you are back with us."

Ruby is speechless. She is still quite unsure of how to act around this Weiss. It is not the familiar, prideful heiress she has known, nor is she the elegant hostess of the White Castle who sings the most beautiful melody Ruby has ever heard.

"There's something I should tell you guys first."

She doesn't know if this is the best idea, but she needs to let it out. This confusion. The memories that contradict each other.

So she tells them everything.

When she is finished, they look uneasily at one another.

"A world where the Peace Treaty never existed, huh?"

"That is… difficult, to imagine."

"That's not all." Ruby shakes her head slightly and closes her eyes, trying to call forth those disjointed memories.

They seem to have hidden themselves from her. Not gone. Just hidden.

"I remember… I remember never really get to know mom. Yang, I remember a childhood where Aunt Raven disappeared and you sacrificed your happiness to shield me from harm. I remember Blake running away after we discover she is a Faunus. I remember having a fight with Weiss in the middle of the initiation."

She still has trouble saying "Aunt Raven". It leaves a strange aftertaste in her mouth, like something foreign.

"But… but that's not what happened!" Yang cries out. "Are you sure they are not some sort of nightmare, Ruby? Something they forced into your head when you were captured?"

It is definitely possible. If the Grimm had filled her head with illusions, it would definitely explain the contradiction.

"But if those memories are all just stuff the Grimm made me see…" She starts slowly. "Then how can I possibly be here? I should be gone already. And even if by some miracles my life is saved, I should have remained one of their champion."

None of them has an answer for that.

The silence lingers in the air for several long minutes, until at last, three soft chimes breaks the spell. The three members of Team RWBY retrieve their devices and read the message. They all freeze.

"What is it?" Ruby asks curiously. She peeks behind Weiss.

And she too freezes in her spot, when she reads the last line of the message.

' _Dear Team RWBY,_

 _A mission requiring your specific talents and experience has emerged. The details are classified. You are hereby summoned to Beacon. Please report for duty tomorrow at my office. I will be expecting you._

 _Oh, and please do bring Ms. Rose along. Her presence is important in this mission._

 _\- Ozpin'_


	4. 1-3 Running Out of Time

**Part 3: Running Out of Time**

They have no idea how Ozpin learned about Ruby, much less what he wants from them, but they know something is about to change, yet again. Ruby can see the distress and panic on her teammates' faces.

Yang is wearing a constant scowl and would jump at every small thing, always throwing her arms in a fighting stance, standing protectively before Ruby. Blake's worry is more subtle, but Ruby can see her eyes scanning their surrounding wearily. Her feline ears stand on high alert.

And Weiss is stone cold. Her fingers grasp at the rapier incredibly tight, so tight that Ruby has to wrap her hand in her palms before she hurts herself.

They are all worried about how they would sneak a supposedly-dead Huntress-turned-Grimm into one of the most prestigious combat school. Weiss even suggested ignoring Ozpin's message altogether, fearing that it will be a trap.

But under Ruby's insistence, they find themselves moving past unguarded gates and empty schoolyard.

Ruby looks up to the top of the Beacon tower. She thinks she saw a man standing in front of the window, watching their progress, but she cannot be sure. The sun is too bright, and she does not want to worry her friends more.

Their journey to the elevator is uneventful. The school seems completely empty. They encounter not a single soul on their way, and there is no sound to indicate the presence of Beacon's staff and students.

The elevator chimes weakly when it reaches their destination. The metal doors slide to the side noisily.

They glance at one another, unsure of what to do, until at last, Ruby breathes in deep and takes the first step out of the metal box, before the doors close again.

Her teammates follow her hastily, with their alarmed eyes and twitching fingers resting against the hilt of their weapon, aiming intently at the man in the room.

Ozpin seeps his coffee calmly as he points to the couch on the far side of the wall.

"Hello, team RWBY." He greets them casually. "Please, have a seat."

Ruby is the only person to move. The rest of the women stand defiantly, staring dagger at their commander.

If their disobedience bothers him, he does not let it show. He places his Scroll on the table. Holographic images dance to life in front of him.

"I have a mission for you." He says, like he is talking about the weather. "There is a relic in the depth of the Emerald Forest. One not far away from where you retrieved the pieces during initiation. I have been told that this relic is extremely powerful, and thus decide that it must be retrieved before it can fall into the wrong hand."

They stare at him with untrusting eyes. Or more precisely, Weiss, Blake, and Yang are, while Ruby looks at him with mild curiosity.

"Why is the school so empty?"

There are a million things she could have asked, but this is the one that puzzles her the most.

Ozpin chuckles.

"I expect you to not know, Miss Rose." He replies. "But it seems your teammates have forgotten as well. Today is the Remembrance Day. All the staff and students are assembled in downtown Vale, where the ceremony is taking place."

They exchange a look of embarrassment. Truthfully, with everything happening, the three of them have shoved the event to the very back of their minds.

"Well, not that I expect otherwise." Ozpin continues. "It is not everyday that you are given the chance to be reunited with your fallen comrade, but do be prepared for questions regarding your absence, Miss Schnee, Miss Belladonna, and Miss Xiao Long."

Yang growls and deploys Ember Celica.

"What do you want?" She challenges.

"I just told you." The Headmaster says. "I need you four to retrieve a relic."

"Stop playing games." Weiss snaps. Myrtenaster leaves its sheath and points directly at the man. "What is your true intention?"

Beside them, Blake has taken to shielding Ruby from the sight. Her right hand is on Gambol Shroud as she lowers her stance, ready to sprint.

Ozpin signs.

"What must I do to convince you I am only trying to help?" The man muses. But in an instance, his face shifts from resignation to sternness, and his voice booms low and harsh. "The relic will be retrieved, whether by you or by another team. But know this - if other people become involved, I will not be able to protect any of you. Least of all Miss Rose. I trust I do not need to spell out the treatment she might receive?"

They shudder at the thought, but still stand their ground. Ruby stands from the couch and pats Blake gently on the shoulder, before she moves past her to stand in front of the headmaster.

"The relic in the Emerald Forest." She repeats the information and nods to Ozpin. "Got it. Should we go now?"

Ozpin relaxes back into his smile. "As soon as you can."

"We will be back before sundown."

She starts moving toward the elevator, but Ozpin calls after her.

"Miss Rose, if I may have a word with you?" He looks apologetically at the other three women. "Alone."

Ruby looks at her teammates. Blake frowns her disapproval. Weiss glares at Ozpin like he has just insulted her family. And Yang grits her teeth like she is about to punch him.

"Sure." She says quickly, before her teammates can express their displeasures in action. She turns to them and tries to smile. "It's fine. I've got some questions too."

She calls the elevator for them before they can object. The machine chimes indifferently again. They shuffle in reluctantly.

"We will be waiting downstair." Weiss says, looking pointedly at Ozpin. "We won't leave without you, Ruby."

Ruby smiles and squeezes her partner's arm gently. "Thanks."

Yang pulls her into another tight hug. "You be careful." She whispers in her sister's ears, and puts something in her palms. "Here. I know you don't have your Scroll. Blake programmed it to speed dial to our number. If anything happens, just tap 5 and it will connect us."

"Don't worry." Ruby chuckles, but squeezes back. "I'm sure the professor just wants to talk."

"Well, yeah. But he might lie to you."

It's funny. Since she arrived, all three of them look more scared than she is, even though she is the one who has the memory of herself dying and of a completely different world.

"It's gonna be okay." She says to her sister. "I promise."

Yang's lips tremble. Slowly, Ruby remembers. She has said the exact same thing before, to this Yang. To all three of them.

"That's what you said before the Grimm captured you." Blake says quietly.

Ruby does not respond. She pushes them into the elevator and watches the doors slid shut. Their eyes never leave Ruby.

"I would ask you how you are feeling, but I think I already know the answer." Ozpin says from behind her.

Ruby spins around to look at her teacher, sitting behind his desk with a morose frown.

"Considering everything that has happened?" She shrugs jokingly. "I think I'm feeling pretty well."

Ozpin sighs.

"I presume you are already suffering from the visions, are you not?"

The straightforwardness catches her off guard. She eyes him cautiously, before nodding. Ozpin sighs again.

"You are not supposed to be here." He says.

The bluntness stings a little bit. Ruby lowers her head briefly, then looks up.

"I know. I'm supposed to be dead."

Ozpin shakes his head.

"That is not all." He looks sympathetic. "You are not from this world."

Ruby stares at him, mouth agape. She is about to respond, when the distorted memories rush back at her again.

" _Why don't you just tell her?" Yang asked. Ruby could tell her sister was frustrated and worried at the same time._

" _Because." She sipped at her whiskey, trying to remain as matter-of-factly as possible. But her voice was weak and small. "She is the heiress of one of the most powerful business empire of this world. She is a highborn, Yang, we live in totally different worlds."_

" _But she cares about you! As much as you care about her!" Yang grabbed her shoulder roughly and shook, as if doing so would put some sense into that stubborn head of her little sister._

" _I know." For a moment, her resolve wavered. "But that doesn't matter."_

" _Why doesn't it matter? From what I've seen, she's probably willing to put everything aside for you!"_

 _She snapped her head up and she suddenly lost control of her grip. The glass shattered in her palm, the pieces cutting it open._

" _Ruby!" Yang jumped up and pried her hand open. "What the hell?"_

" _She probably will, and that's the problem." Her palm hurt, and she let a tear fall from her cheek. "She deserves so much better."_

She clutches her head and bends over, feeling like it is about to split.

"The child…" She gasps. "I was in the forest. Running away with the child. What happened to her? What is going on?"

Ozpin shakes his head again.

"I do not know."

"Why am I here? What in the name of Oum is going on?!" She almost screams. She can still smell the whiskey mixed with her own blood that night. She can feel the warmth from Yang's back when she carried her back to their dorm. And she can see the worried eyes of her teammates watching over her when she woke up.

Ozpin just looks sadly at her.

Ruby takes a deep breath and props herself upright. She is confused, angry, and hurt.

"And why do you know all this? Was it you? Was it you who brought me here?"

Ozpin stands up from behind his desk and walks closer to her. "No. Dear child."

Ruby takes an instinctive step back, and almost tumbles. Ozpin grabs her arm and helps her up again.

"I do not know who, for what purpose, send you to this world. If nothing else, you must believe me in this. I would never want to make you, or your teammates, suffer through the loss again."

"Loss? What loss?"

Ozpin pauses for several seconds, as if debating whether to tell her the truth. He sighs, and releases his grip.

"The Ruby Rose of this world is dead." He says softly. "Nothing can ever change that. It is the law of the universe. Nature has its own way to balance everything. Your very existence at this point of time is an anomaly, and will not be allowed."

Ruby feels dizzy.

"Does that mean I'll… die? Again?"

"I do not know that either." The Headmaster admits.

It frustrates Ruby to hear him say that. She feels like she is just within arm's reach to the truth and the liberation. Only, her arms are tight behind her back.

Whether Ozpin notices her dismay, he continues. "All I know is that this inconsistency will be corrected, one way or another. And it is in both yours and everyone else's interest for you to leave before that happens."

Ruby tries to make sense of this situation, but the pounding headache is not helping matters at all. She slumps her shoulder, defeated.

"So what happens next? I don't know how to jump between worlds. I don't even know what happened before." She curls her fists at the memory of those eyes that look like frozen lake in the winter.

"The artifact should help." Ozpin puts an arm on her shoulder again, and squeezes it gently. "You must stay brave, and focused, if you are ever to return to your world."

She looks up at him, pained. She looks nothing like the decorated nineteen-year-old commander, but rather like someone much older. Someone who has suffered years of loneliness and despair.

"But I don't know if anything's happened since I got here." She whispers. "I'm afraid that when I go back, I've failed my mission. I'm afraid the child will be dead."

Ozpin does not immediately respond. He gives her another gentle squeeze.

"I'm afraid," his voice is barely audible. "That is not where you will return to either."

Ruby opens her mouth to ask what exactly he meant by that, but the Headmaster withdraws his hand and turns around.

"Now you must go." He says without looking at her. "Time is running out. And you must outpace it before it catches up with you."

Ruby stands where she is, thinking hard. She knows Ozpin is not going to tell her more on that specific matter, but there are still so many questions.

" _They told me they will never be able to have children."_

 _Weiss was standing next to her, looking into the window at the two women crying softly in each other's arms. Ruby remembered asking herself why fate seemed to love making cruel jokes with them._

" _And why is that?"_

 _Her own voice was hoarse, tired, and slightly angry. She had been on so many long and dreadful missions lately._

 _Weiss looked over at her. Crystal blue rippled with concern. "Are you okay? When was the last time you slept?"_

 _Nine days ago. The night when Grimm ambushed their camp and she watched one of her colleagues died. But Weiss did not need to know that._

" _Why is that?" She repeated her question._

 _Weiss sighed and put a hand around her arm, the one not in a sling. She tensed._

" _The chemicals involved won't work on Yang's unique condition. And Blake… some of the wounds went deeper than they appeared. Her body was too damaged to nurture a child."_

 _They did not speak after that. They simply stood and watched over their teammates helplessly._

She shakes the phantoms out from her mind. Ozpin is right, she is running out of time.

"One last thing, Professor?"

Ozpin does not reply.

"How do you…" Ruby bites her tongue, searching for the right word. "How do you know about all this?"

Ozpin turns around to look at her. There is something distant in his eyes, as if he is not really speaking to her anymore.

"Dear child," he says. "You are not the first Traveler."


	5. 1-4 Love's Sorrow

**Part 4: Love's Sorrow**

* * *

" _Don't cry, my little rose and my little sunshine…" Summer coughed between her words. "You won't be alone. Qrow will take care of you."_

 _She was nine, old enough to know what was going on._

 _Her mother was dying._

 _Yang was standing by her side, quietly sobbing into the sheet._

" _I don't want to lose you." She weeped._

 _Summer sighed._

" _You can't lose me." Her voice was raspy and fragile, like a flower withering in the chilly Autumn night._

" _That's what you said about daddy." Ruby pointed out angrily. "You said he's still with us, but he's not. He's gone, and soon you will be gone too."_

 _Summer coughed again. She looked tired._

" _What good is it if we can't ride on his shoulders or play hide and seek in the forest?"_

" _Ruby…"_

" _Don't go. Mommy, don't go."_

 _A tear rolled down Summer's face._

" _I'm sorry, sweetie." She was crying, too. And Ruby hated seeing her cry. It made her scared and angry at the same time. "But we don't have a choice."_

.

"Ruby?"

She blinks. The image of her dying mother disappears, and she is back in the forest with her team.

"Are you okay?"

She blinks again. Weiss' concerned face appears in her vision. She feels her heart skips a beat.

"Yeah, sorry. Just suddenly remembered my mom."

Weiss' gaze turns even softer. She wraps an arm around Ruby's shoulder, hugging her close. The unexpected physical contact sends shockwave from her shoulder to the rest of her body.

"It's okay. Everything will be okay."

One part of her wants to ask if she means the predicament they find themselves in right now, and another part recalls the soothing comfort those same words once brought. Ah, yes, she remembers now, Weiss had been there for her when her mother passed away suddenly. She had offered her not only her shoulders, but also patience and gentle lullabies to ease her into her slumber, every night.

They had grown closer because of the tragedy. When no one else is around, the two of them would talk all night about just anything. Their past. Their future. Their present. It forged a bond between them, beyond anything they could possibly perceive previously…

…or at least in this world, anyway.

"Thanks." Ruby mumbles and averts her eyes.

She doesn't need to see the slight dejection on the fair woman's face to know it exists. Such sadness does not suit her. Her mind protests. The only expression she should wear is heartfelt joy, decorated with a white lily tucked between her ear and the delicate white strands, soft and light like the first snow.

"Are you ready?"

Blake's quiet voice comes from ahead of them. There is a certain gentleness in her gold eyes when she glances from Weiss to Ruby. Ruby recognizes that knowing look.

"We spotted no Grimm, but Yang is guarding the entrance."

"Alright. Lead the way." Ruby forces a smile, putting more space between herself and Weiss.

They walk down the mossy slope of the mountain carefully. Blakes takes the lead, followed by Ruby, and finally Weiss. All their way down, Ruby can feel Weiss's gaze prickling on her back. She never looks back.

They catch up with Yang at the entrance of a half collapsed archway. There is little left of whatever the building once was. They cut through overgrown grass as high as their hips and maneuver awkwardly around the fallen tree trunks. The broken stone path rumbles beneath their boots.

The relic is sitting atop a stone altar. It is a curious object. A small, circular disk with a square protrusion in the middle. They each stare at it, uncertain. Something about the relic feels unsettling.

"Well, this thing isn't gonna walk itself back to Beacon." Yang chuckles nervously, rubbing her palms together.

"Yeah…" Blake agrees, but it is clear she does not want to touch it. Her feline ears stand tall in alarm.

Ruby tries to laugh it off.

"Ah well, let's just get it over with." She reaches out with a smile. Her finger brushes against the surface. It is unexpectedly warm, like a living thing.

And then, a giant whirlpool sucks everything into it.

.

 _She was cold and miserable and alone. It was dark and suffocating. She couldn't be sure if she was standing up or laying down. All she could feel were the dull pain and bittercold._

" _They have betrayed you." The voice in the dark said._

 _Something jabbed her in the chest. She tried to fend for herself, but she couldn't tell if she had moved at all in the darkness. She thought she had swung her arms, but she felt nothing. Not even the movement of air._

" _No! No, they have not. And they never will." The young commander shouted._

" _They think you are lost."_

 _Another jab. This one cut deeper, or did it? Ruby didn't know. She tried not to scream, but the voice left her anyway._

" _You cannot hide." The voice mocked her cruelly. "We see you. We feel you. We_ are _you."_

" _I am not you!" Another scream. But was it her own or something else's? "I will never surrender to you."_

" _You don't have to. You are already ours."_

 _She heard villages burning and people crying, but still she saw nothing._

 _The pain continued washing over her in waves. It spread from her chest to the tip of her limbs. It was as if she had been reduced to a single piece of dust and was being burned in some invisible flame._

" _They are not coming for you." The voice repeated itself over and over again. "They are not coming for you."_

 _She didn't want to answer. She just kept screaming._

 _How long had it been? Century? A year? A month? A week? For all she knew, it could have been only a day, an hour, or even just a minute. She tried to keep track of time, but all the void around her made it hard. She wasn't even sure if she had lost consciousness or not._

" _Time flows differently in the darkness." The voice said. "You remember all those nights with the bad dreams and the dancing shadows, don't you?"_

 _She did, but she didn't want to admit it._

" _They are not coming for you." The voice said again. "They will never know the suffering you endured for their sake."_

 _She snapped._

" _Shut up. Shut up!" She thrashed in the darkness wildly. Claws and fangs ripped her entire being to pieces. "I don't care if they know! You will never turn me against them. I will protect them!"_

" _They are not coming." The voice repeated. "You are no longer Ruby Rose."_

" _But… but I am."_

" _What are you?" The voice asked._

" _I am a Huntress." She answered truthfully._

 _The image of her beloved scythe appeared before her. Ruby tried to reach out to grab it. But as soon as she tried, Crescent Rose shattered into thousands of pieces._

" _You are a failure." The voice mocked. "So what are you now?"_

" _I'm…" She tried to focus, but everything became mixed up. "I'm the daughter of Summer Rose."_

 _She saw her mother's face, smiling at her. She was standing in the kitchen, wearing that white aprons and beckoning at her with a tray in her mittens. Her lips moved silently._ Honey, would you like some cookies?

 _A claw ripped through her apron. It cut through her flesh. The world turned crimson with her blood._

" _And so withers the last rose of summer." The voice sighs happily. "All that is good are gone and past."_

 _She wanted to cry. She would have, but she could not feel her own tears._

" _Stop it." She sobbed._

" _If only it were that easy." The voice laughed at her misery. "But it won't stop. The darkness is eternal."_

 _And it_ felt _like eternal. The pain. The darkness. The sobs. Eventually, it became easier not to think. Not to feel. The voice taunted her relentlessly with its cruel laughter and mocking words. Every single doubt she ever had and every mistake she ever made were reaffirmed and brandished again and again._

" _So who are you?"_

 _She didn't want to answer._

" _What are you?"_

 _She couldn't answer._

" _What's your name?"_

 _She didn't know._

 _For a long, long time, there was only silence. There was only the void._

 _Then, the voice asked again._

" _Who are you?"_

 _And finally, a different voice came. It was one that did not belong to the inquisitor nor to the fallen Huntress. It was the last breath of life and the first cry of death._

" _Who… am I?"_

.

They are saying their goodbyes.

It took Ozpin a full hour to explain the ritual, and another two to convince them to go through with it. By the time they arrive at the middle of Emerald Forest, it is well past midnight.

Ozpin went about preparing the ritual immediately after they arrived, leaving the four of them alone.

Blake and Yang said their goodbyes fairly quickly. Mostly because Yang could not get out more than three words without choking up.

Now, only Ruby and Weiss are left.

They decide to take a walk in the forest, with the stars laughing over their head. Weiss is in the lead, with Ruby trailing closely behind.

They haven't said a word to each other since the beginning of their short journey. Weiss hasn't looked back either. It may be for the best, Ruby reckons. She really does not know what to say in this kind of situation.

Still, the silence is driving her mad.

"So, ummm…" She begins. "It's getting cold out here. Should we head back?"

She is rubbing the back of her neck and looking up to the branches when she says that. She does not see Weiss' face. Maybe that is why she is so caught off guard when Weiss turns around and hugs her tightly.

"Don't go."

Ruby is stunned. The Weiss she knew was never an emotional person, nor was the Weiss she had seen in this world. She was a polite and well-mannered lady from a wealthy and powerful family. Yet, here she is, holding on to her as if her life depends on it.

She felt the familiar tug in her chest. She knows it does not exactly belong to her - it belonged to the Ruby Rose who escaped the Schnee Castle with her best friend's newborn daughter.

She knows it is not real.

"I missed you so much."

So why does she feel like she is about to fall apart? Why does she feel the same heartbreak a different Ruby had felt? And most important of all, why does she find it so difficult - almost unthinkable - to say no?

"But I'm right here." She says.

"And for how long?" Weiss sobs. "Please, please don't leave me again."

Something stirs inside of her. Or perhaps it is just the ray of moonlight peeking from behind the clouds. She looks up to the sky.

 _Again._ The word echoes through the night.

Then it dawns on her what that strange whirlpool of conflict within her heart is. She thought they are just contradicting emotions, or the dread of facing the unknowns. But that is not it.

The very fact that there is a conflict is proof that she does not belong. Any Ruby, from any world, would experience indecisions and doubts at one point or another in their life, but there is never a confusion as to what she wants or what she must do. Her nature dictates so. No matter how grim her surrounding, she can always see a light.

Her confusion, she realizes, arises from the fact that there are now two distinct sources of light. She didn't know which one to follow before. But now she does. One of those lights does not belong to her. She thinks she knows which one now.

Ruby wraps her arms around Weiss carefully.

"I can't." She whispers. "The Ruby you knew was gone. I'm not her."

"I know." Weiss sniffs. "She is charming in the dorky kind of ways. She is strong and confident and…" She sniffs louder and buries her face in the crook of her neck. "I didn't want to do it."

She doesn't need to ask what she is referring to.

"It doesn't get any easier, does it?" Ruby combs through her white strands and feels her head move against her neck. She sighs. Weiss smells like the winter lily of Atlas.

They stay like that for a moment.

"You know," Ruby pulls away just enough to see Weiss' face. She wipes off her tears gently with her thumbs. "I'm still not sure how I got here, but I think I know why."

"Why?"

"So you have a chance to say goodbye."

And for a moment, Ruby doesn't feel like herself. There is this overwhelming tenderness that refused to be contained. She kisses her forehead.

"She loved you." Ruby says. "Still does, I think."

Weiss is crying in earnest now. "If I pretend I didn't hear you, will you stay and tell me again?"

"I wish I can." She pulls away another inch. "But it is time."

Weiss still holds on to her, like her life depends on it. Ruby blinks up to the night sky. She wishes the stars will grant her some inspiration to find the right words to comfort her.

They don't, but the shattered moon does.

"Hey," she whispers. "You know what I just realize?"

"What?" Weiss is trying to hide her face in her cloak. She smiles. Memories of Ruby the Commander wash over gently.

"She's glad it's you." She says as she pulls her into another tight embrace. "She's really sorry that you had to do it. But she is so happy that you upheld her legacy."

Weiss seems at a loss of words.

Just then, Ozpin ventures into view. He gives a polite cough. "It is time."

Ruby nods and gently extracts herself from Weiss. She holds her face in her palms and looks directly into her eyes. It makes her heart throb with sorrow and joy at the same time. It is the love between the Ruby and Weiss of this world.

She kisses her temple one last time.

"Farewell, my Snowy Princess." She whispers in her ears.

Weiss looks back at her with bewildered eyes. She knows why. It is the nickname the Ruby of this world has jokingly given her.

They return to the site together. Yang is crying on Blake's shoulder. Blake is comforting her with words they cannot hear. Ruby hugs both without a word. When she turns around, her eyes meets Weiss'. Both turn away quickly.

"So… I guess this is it."

She steps back slowly, looking at each person around the circle. She takes a deep breath.

"Blake, I cannot thank you enough for supporting Yang through it all." She looks at her Faunus teammate with a small smile. "You are family. You have always been. And I am happy that you will continue being there for the rest of her life. Please take care of my big sister, though she is quick to anger and has an unhealthy obsession for puns."

"Don't worry." Blake replies with a cracked voice. "I will keep an eye on her, all the time, until the end."

She turns to Yang.

"Hey, big sis." She wipes at her face. "I know you still feel guilty about everything, but don't, okay? You've got your whole life waiting ahead of you. And you've got Blake. There's not much more you can ask for."

"I know, little sis." She smiles through the tears. "God, I'm gonna miss you. But don't you worry. I'll be alright. We're all gonna be alright."

She almost runs ahead to hug her again, but stops herself in the last minute. She has no more time to lose, and she still needs to say one last goodbye.

"Weiss." Her knees buckle under her weight. She feels like she is going to topple over. She does not want to leave, yet knows she have to. It kills her to say this. "There's so much more I… she wants to tell you. It would have taken a lifetime."

She feels herself choking on words. Weiss is merely ten paces or so away from her, but she can hardly see her through the distorted mist. Her throat is closing up, but she pushes the words through.

"She wants you to be happy more than anything else. She wants all of you to be happy." The vile will not go away no matter how many times she wipes it with her sleeves. The soft fabric becomes drenched. "She doesn't want it to end. But she is satisfied that it happened at all."

She steps into the circle where the relic is placed. It glows softly. She feels a force wrapping around her like an invisible blanket.

"Good bye." She says. "And maybe, in another place, in another lifetime…"

She does not finish her words. There's light from everywhere. She closes her eyes, feeling her body lifting up to the sky. It feels like she is flying. The world around her deconstructs and rapidly rebuilds itself. She sees Ruby the Commander rising higher and higher.

"Thank you." She says.

And the almost perfect world is no more.


	6. 2 - Paradise Lost

_Yang. Blake. Weiss._

The world is burning. Black grim rains from the sky. The air smells of something rotten and decayed.

Everything that can be seen are vibrating in irregular, uncertain directions. Yet nothing is really moving. There is no other living being around. Just her, limping up the blood-soaked hill.

The silence is deafening.

Every step is a struggle, every movement draws pain. Her eyelids are getting heavier and heavier. Her visions growing more blurry and someone must have dimmed the light, because why else is it so dark?

It is difficult to tell whether the droplets on her face are more sweat or blood. Not that there is a need to know. Some questions are best left unanswered.

The blunt end of her walking stick - one that has been described as an "oversized gardening tool" with amusement several times before - is stuck in the soft soil when she tries to pull free the next time. She stumbles and falls to the ground. Mud gets into her mouth and nose, suffocatingly bitter like the dead dreams of their youth.

How many time has she fallen down?

How much time has passed?

It hurts to think. It hurts to do anything, really.

But she has decided that pain is a good thing. For now at least. Pain means she is alive. And she means to live to see the end.

 _Yang._

 _Blake._

 _Weiss._

She pushes herself up and keeps walking.

.

* * *

.

The beginning of the end came unexpectedly, like a childhood nightmare suddenly crawled its way from under her bed.

Ruby remembered it was a Tuesday, because they had the first period free on Tuesdays and Weiss had forced them to practice team moves that day. She was certain because they were coming out of the gym when they noticed the sky.

"What the fuck?"

Yang had muttered in bewilderment first. Just moments ago her sister was ruffling her hair and praising her for her improvement while Weiss begrudgingly admitted that she had done better than in their previous training session. She was focusing on combing her hair back to a more presentable state with her fingers when Yang looked away and laughed.

She remembered grumbling to her older sister about not liking to have her hair ruffled and asking her to quit it, just like she did almost everyday. The whole exchange was almost routine. Little did she know she would soon have that wish granted.

"Language." Weiss chided disapprovingly. The heiress was walking slightly ahead of the group, though she turned regularly to her teammates. Maybe she was trying to make sure they were all following her.

Although, to Ruby's defense, they only tried to sneak away once. And that was totally Yang's idea.

"No, seriously." Yang pointed to the sky. "What the hell is _that_?"

Ruby followed the finger and squinted. There was something in the sun. A dot.

"Is that an eclipse?" Blake caught up next to them, brows creased. "Strange, I don't recall an eclipse in the news today."

Yang was about to make a comment, probably about how much of a nerd Blake was, when Weiss walked back to the group and raised her brows.

"That doesn't seem…" The heiress hesitated. "...natural."

Ruby was about to complain her empty stomach. The cafeteria was going to serve strawberry flavored cookie-dough ice cream as dessert. But she shut her mouth when she noticed how her partner's eyes widened. She looked back up.

More dots emerged in the sky.

"Uh-oh." Yang breathed.

Many years later, when Ruby thought back to the moment, she would have known what an understatement it was. But at that time she was as clueless as any of them, and she watched as the dots grew larger and larger in the sky, entranced by the strangeness of it all, until the alarm that hadn't been heard in hundreds of years blasted from _everywhere_ , shaking them from their surprise.

And the end began.

.

* * *

.

She is choking on nothing and everything by the time she reaches the top of the hill. Her lungs have been failing for years now, and if not for the transplant she should have died in the battlefield with all the others. In truth, she should have died the night a Goliath plunged its tusk through her chest, but unfortunately they found a way to save her.

Unfortunately they always find a way to save her.

The air is putrid with death and destruction. The place where she laid her friends to rest is no longer the sunlit high cliff with nameless flowers from a dream thousands of years ago. The sun has been long gone. In its place the shattered moon shines weakly like a candle in the wind. Even with most of her eyesight gone, Ruby can still see the dark marks like black veins pumping across the surface of the broken moon.

She loses her balance again and falls flat on her face. The impact is enough to send her weakened body back into darkness. Back into the dreams and the memories.

.

* * *

.

Yang was the first.

They were hiding in one of the safehouses with team JNPR when it happened. All she remembered was a loud screech above their heads and then all of a sudden the double door her uncle proclaimed to be impenetrable gave way to the snarling monsters.

They got separated from JNPR during the fight. The last she had seen of them was Jaune waving his sword frantically in front of an injured Pyrrha, with a wave of blackness circling around them.

She tried to help, but for every step she took forward, the Grimm pushed her back two more.

Eventually, Yang threw her over her shoulder and _ran_.

They ran for three days and nights after the fallout, the Grimm in hot pursuit. Always when they thought they had found a place to rest, it was only to be startled mere hours later by whoever was patrolling when the Grimm were too close for comfort.

They made for the shore at first, in hopes that one of the airships or boats might take them away from this nightmare. But all they found at the harbor was smoke, broken concrete, and corpses. Corpses so many that the stench travelled kilometers before they even saw them.

And by the time they realized there would be no transport, they had run out of choice. They could see the Grimm on the horizon, moving like dark stormy clouds towards them. They scrambled toward the ruin, footsteps leaded with despair, but none of them had given up yet.

Giving up would come later, though not by much.

They set off in a frantic search for any vehicles left in the rubbles. The unspoken 'there is nothing left here' lingered at the back of their mind, but none chose to acknowledge it.

By the time they sobered to reality, the Grimm had drawn too close.

And then, Ruby made the decision she would regret until her days are over.

"We will set up a defense and fight." She said to her exhausted teammates, putting her hands on their shoulders and smiled through unwashed blood and sweat. They looked back to her like she was the last torch of hope in the dark winter. And her grin stretched just a bit further to ease their minds. "We're Huntresses. We can hold them back."

What a stupid mistake.

The pathetic excuse of a barrier held for perhaps an hour before the Grimm broke through. And then it was just chaos. Thinking back, all Ruby could remember were the faintly glowing snowflakes, shadows appearing and disappearing fast as lightning, and the roaring fire bursting in a sea of black.

Her uncle used to say when she swung her scythe she looked like she was dancing, like sunlight glistening on petals after a summer rain.

She was not dancing then. She was fumbling and crashing and flailing with a seven-feet piece of metal lunging carelessly around in awkward swipes. There was nothing graceful about struggling to keep out of the claws and jaws of the monsters. There was only realizing her naivety and suffering the consequences of it by watching helplessly as they surrounded her friends.

Her rhythm got interrupted when a Beowolf was thrown onto her back, knocking her off her balance. She didn't know where it came from nor would she ever learn the truth.

But she recalled with painful vividity what happened next. A Boarbtusk caught her in the right arm with its tusk and she screamed as Crescent Rose fell from her fingers.

She managed to summon the last bit of her Aura to activate her Semblance. Everything moved in slow, jerky motion around her, and she tore the tusk from her shoulder with her remaining good hand and plunged it in the offending Grimm's head.

The black mass twitched and she fell backward. For a moment she must have lost her consciousness, because the next thing she saw when she blinked was her sister in front of her, wrestling with a Creep.

She opened her mouth to warn Yang about the Beowolf to her left, but all she managed was a gurgly whimper and she spat out blood. At the same moment, the Beowolf stroke Yang in her chest, and more blood splashed across her face.

Yang collapsed next to her, wheezing in pain. Ruby tried to pull herself up, but her right hand refused to cooperate. She settled to dragging herself toward her sister with her barely functioning left arm.

Everything else faded into a buzz in her ears. She couldn't even hear her own shallow breathing. The world melted into pain and salty rivers streaming down her cheeks.

Yang turned to look at her.

"You're gonna be alright." Her sister said.

She was blinking slowly. One moment her eyes were crimson and glittering, just like the small pool around her body, and the next they were dull lilac struggling to stay open. Ruby saw fear in them, but she was not sure who mirrored who.

"I…"

She wanted to apologize for not being careful enough. She wanted to say how sorry she was. But the blood in her mouth made her choke. Yang dragged an arm over her tiny body and pulled with the last bit of life she had, until she was resting against her shoulder

"You're gonna be alright." Her sister repeated in a whisper. Like how she used to when they were kids and Ruby was too afraid of the monster under her bed to sleep.

And then she fell into the blackness with Yang's last sigh.

.

* * *

.

She wakes again some time later. Maybe seconds, or minutes, or hours. It can't be,days though, because her body is not strong enough to last that long. Nothing lasts in this world, even the memories. That's the most painful part - forgetting the way her sister muss her hair, the way Blake's bow twitch when she is perfectly still otherwise, or the way Weiss' ponytail swing rhythmically behind her back.

She can see the graves now.

The headstones she made have been long gone, shattered by bandits and mad warriors and only Dust knows who else. The sites themselves are undisturbed, though, perhaps the looters thought there will be nothing of value underneath six feet of dirt.

But Ruby saved what she could to be buried with them. Their weapons at the very least. Tokens of importance to them and them only - a book, a photograph, a flower. Not that she ever advertised them. And now, with the world gone, there really is no point anymore anyway.

She takes another rest before she makes the final climb, wheezing and coughing and dry-heaving. How long has it been since she last ate? Or drank?

Her skin hangs loosely around her bones like wet parchment. Pale from the lack of sunlight. The sun is dead. The moon, too. All of her friends and families. Even her enemies. And soon she will follow them.

Even if nothing lasts in this world anymore, at least it means neither will her loneliness.

.

* * *

.

She wished desperately to say that her partner died a hero, but the truth was there was no dignity in her death. She was drugged and abducted into a white van, beaten bloody and unrecognizable by people she barely knew and barely knew her.

Ruby's only comfort was the autopsy report that stated her partner must have fell into a coma shortly after her capture and never recovered. The wrath of the terrorists upon this discovery was severe and evident, but at least Weiss could not feel any of that. She did not suffer for long.

No. The suffering was left to the livings.

.

* * *

.

The climb is short, at least theoretically. But in retrospect it may as well be on the other side of the planet.

Her limbs fail just as she makes it to the top. One moment she is blinking against the fading aura of the world, and the next there is naught but darkness before her.

For a heart-stopping moment she thinks the end of the world is finally upon her, and she wants to laugh at the irony of her own survival.

But she blinks again and the world comes back to light. Slightly out of focus, yes, but still very much existing.

Ah.

She close her fingers, and feels the battered softness of her cloak pooled around her. So it is her who shall welcome the end first, it seems. That's fine. She doesn't want to be the last one standing in this ludicrous competition anyway.

Because she has always been. The one last standing.

.

* * *

.

She tried to help Blake, and Blake tried to help her. That was the problem. Both were willing to give everything to ensure the other would survive.

It was only after Blake took a bullet in her temple that Ruby realized the truth. The truth that it would have been more merciful if neither of them survived that ambush. Blake was gone before she hit the ground. Ruby never got a chance to say goodbye.

The bandits who ambushed them died promptly under her scythe, and before the warmth started seeping out from Blake's body Ruby was back by her side, weeping into her slumped shoulder.

It was impossible to say who or what she hated more that moment. The world. Fate. Her own futility.

She gave up then, holding the still warm corpse of the last of the team in her arms. The burden of guarding that last flicker of hope became too heavy to bear any longer. So she gave up and let herself sit in the pool of blood and ash, sobbing into Blake's dirtied hair because she was too afraid to look into those lifeless eyes.

Then, Sun pried her off Blake's body and lifted her over his shoulder and ran. The Grimm nearby had caught the scent of death and despair while they fought, and they were swarming like sharks in a feeding frenzy.

Ruby knew that. She was past caring. She was hoping the sensations of claws opening her stomach and jaws snapping her neck would finally set her torture mind at ease. She struggled o Sun's back and screamed for him to leave her alone.

Sun did. Then promptly knocked her out cold.

When she woke she was back to the survivor's camp. She was told that Sun didn't make it. One of the Beowulf got hold his tail during the retreat. There was no more details given.

Few days later a small team went back to the site of the ambush and brought back what they could find. The dead - or rather, the pieces left - were buried at locations they had chosen in their wills (if it could be called that). Blake had picked the cliff where they buried Yang and Weiss, the one overlooking Forever Fall and Emerald Forest. That was Ruby's choice too. They promised they would all come here to rest. They would stay a team, alive or dead.

Except when the burial happened Ruby wasn't there. She was sent on a ranging mission with a couple others from the group.. They had no choice. Their resources were stretched thin.

And maybe it was the desperation and the knowledge of impending doom that drew the Grimm. Or maybe one of the survivors finally lost it and brought them to the camp. When Ruby's group returned there was nothing left. Nothing but blood and dust. The last of the survivors broke apart soon after.

Ruby didn't know what others' reasons were, but she just wanted to be with her team one last time. She just wanted to get there and rest forever.

The idea of visiting Sun crossed her mind, but she dismissed it soon. She knew where Blake would be, but she had no idea where Sun was laid to rest. They never talked about it. It's easier to pretend what they were doing had a point that way.

In the end, it didn't matter.

She never had a chance to say goodbye to any of them.

.

* * *

.

When the dream drifts away and the world comes back to focus, perhaps for the last time, she find herself smiling.

Maneuvering in the soot to twist her chin upward proves to be a difficult task, and dragging her disobeying limbs through the mud a slow process, but she manages. The pain is constant to the point where she becomes immune to the discomfort, and she pushes and pulls closer and closer to the top.

The broken headstones watch her wordlessly, weathered but defiant. Ruby's eyes never once leave them as she crawls. A certain sense of pride washes over, drowning the rest of the world in background static.

It's funny. She wanted the quiet when there was still a war to fight. She could hardly wait to be rid of pained screams and hopeless sobs. But now she is the sole survivor, the only witness to the end, she almost misses all those chaos. She supposes she's just grown used to it.

The last of her strength leaves her just as she reaches the tombs, close enough to reach out and touch. She laughs quietly to herself, the first sliver of sincere joy in god knows how long.

She's here. She made it. She kept her promise. That's all that matters.

Her fingertips trace the rough edges of the ruined monument, imagining the names she carved a lifetime ago. There were no epitaphs for her friends, for she had neither the inspiration nor the time to come up with something fitting. Besides, who they were cannot be described in simple words. Each of their life is so beautifully complicated it is impossible to summarize, and so memories of each moment they spend together are the more logical choice as remembrance.

She drifts between consciousness and beyond, settling in her final moment as one would to a warm bed during a cold night. Pieces of their past come and go. Their initiation. Every boring class they sat through. All the insignificant moment they messed around. Each physical and emotional conflict they had among themselves or with others…

And of course, the times when she lost them one by one. She tries to blink those memories away. She's here now. She's going to be with them soon. Once upon a time, she promised she would stand with them until the end, until they die side by side for the honor of their great Kingdom-

Wait, what?

Confusion strikes her back into a mental double-take. She winces at the odd memory- no, fantasy? Hallucination? The things she is remembering now - four proud and happy young women at their graduation shortly before they were shipped off to fight the great war - that never happened. There was never glory in this war, only pitiful struggle to live just a second closer to seeing the world wither.

-yet the images lingered. Of the night they donned their uniforms for the first time, partners holding each other's arms as they strode confidently into the ballroom. Of them fighting in a battalion with comrades who shared their patriotism. That was before the Grimm had… had abducted her.

She blinks rapidly. The images disperse.

It makes absolutely no sense, but she shivers when she remembers the invisible whips lashing against her soul in the dark. The torture

There was a voice in the dark. It convinced her of unspeakable betrayals. The venoms turned her into a monster… but she's right here. She lived when all her friends had died. She is alone-

-except she is not.

A hooded figure stands just over the cliff, floating in midair.

Except it's not really floating. It's as grounded as she is. The world spins out of control in the corner of her vision, but this person - figure, being, or whatever it is - remains unmoved.

"Who are you?"

She has forgotten how long it has been since she last spoke. Her voice is unrecognizable even to herself.

"I am the Watcher." The hooded figure replies. "I am here to witness another end."

Another? Had she been there when her friends passed, as well?

"Are you Death?" She asks.

"No."

"I don't understand." She admits. "What's all these visions? Is fate so cruel to mock me with hallucinations of a different life?"

The hooded figure studies her.

"What do you see?"

She shakes her head. The images change.

"A castle." She answers truthfully. "Burning. Weiss… she was trapped. She gave me her daughter…"

She trails off.

That's ridiculous. Weiss never had a chance to bear children. None of them did. They all died so young. Ruby's only eighteen now.

"Curious." The hooded figure hums. "You shouldn't have lasted this long. Your body should have failed you at the bottom of this hill."

No. Ruby wants to tell the hooded figure. Not at the bottom of the hill. I should have died long ago, beneath the crumpled bricks of the safehouse, splintered like waves against the bloodstained dock, carried away by the dark wind like dust.

 _But here I am._

"Look." The hooded figure says. "The end is here."

She does look, lifting her head skyward as if seeking answer from some omnipotent being above. By some miracle, the heavy clouds have cleared just enough for them to see the universe beyond. Stars glow bright as distant wild fire, burning her eyes.

She opens her mouth to ask whether she will see her loved ones again, in a better place where time stands still and the world never ends. But when she turns back, the hooded figure is gone. She is again by herself.

So she does the only thing she could. Ruby lays her broken body against the equally broken gravestone, and sighs one last prayer. Ghostly white soot drifts all around her, gliding silently like the first snow of the year. Everything becomes covered in a frosted coat that never melt.

As Ruby closes her eyes for the last time, the last piece of the silver moon dissolves into nothing.

And the world ends.


	7. 3-1 - Awakening

Act 3: A World Where Light and Shadow Coexist

"Professor."

The Husks are close. Too close to start evacuating the five hundred innocent lives in the village behind them. And it isn't just the one village. There are more along the country road, leading all the way to the heart of the kingdom. Thousands, maybe millions, will die before the threat can be stopped.

"Can you promise me one thing?"

The border has never fallen since the beginning of civilization, because there is always a Guardian. There are always those who sacrifice their common happiness for the greater good. And even if one should fall, another would immediately take up the post, until they too draw their last breath in the desolation.

"If I go over…"

She wonders if this is where it happened. It looks exactly like what she had heard so many times before. But then again, so is the rest of the mesa that stretches on and on until they become one with the shadow of the mountains.

"Promise me they won't see."

Part 1: Awakening

"Are you going to get up, or do we have to go to the test without you?"

A familiar voice calls to her. Who is it?

"Ruby? I know you are awake."

Weiss? But it can't be. Weiss is dead. And Blake. And Yang. They died in the neverending nightmare. And she was supposed to finally have her peace.

No, wait. They are not dead. She was the one who died, wasn't it? She became Grimm, and Weiss had to…

But what about the assassination? The burning castle and the-

She sits up so quickly that her forehead collides with Weiss', just as the heiress leans forward to drag her up. She yelps. Weiss makes some sort of screeching noise and leaps back.

She blinks. The sun has already risen high in the sky. Golden rays shoot through the cracks between curtains, illuminating their dorm room.

Hung up uniforms besides training schedules. Black boxes with silver trim full of their field gears, maintenance tools stacking against the wall. The very picture of discipline.

Something stings her eyes, much the same way a fistful of sand blown in her face would. She rubs her face instinctively.

The neatly arranged room disappeared, replaced by messy desktops, half closed bathroom door, sideway boots, unmade bed, and magazines haphazardly thrown atop drawers.

"What are you _doing_ , you idiot!" Weiss' harsh snap brings her back to focus. "And look at me when I talk to you!"

Ruby winces and wilts under the furious cold gaze of her best friend. Or, well, her hopefully-one-day-would-be best friend. Weiss hates her. Everyone knows that, from her teammates to the Beacon staff to everyone else they have come into contact with. She has tried. She has tried so, _so_ hard.

"Sorry." She says meekly.

Weiss gives her another glare before stomping away. Ruby catches something about incompetent fool and undeserving luck. She sighs, and is about to get up from her bed when their dorm room door swings open.

In bursts a ball of blinding sunlight that takes the form of her sister. She shines so brightly that Ruby nearly misses the shadow trailing behind her, their fourth member, Blake.

"Good moooooorning." Yang sings, then stops abruptly when she spots the crestfallen expression on Ruby. She looks at Weiss and frowns. "Hey, princess, I thought I told you not to give my sister a hard time."

"First of all, I did not 'give her a hard time'." Weiss folds her arms defensively. "Second, if she does not want to be scolded, then she should stop being an idiot."

"Listen here you-"

"Ruby has been trying her best." Blake pulls her partner back, but shoots a disapproving glare at Weiss. "You of all people should know. Or you are more blind than I have realized."

Yang pats Blake on the back, smiling triumphantly with a proud declaration of "that's my Blakey!" The Faunus girl nearly topples over from the force, and rolls her eyes with a hint of amusement.

Neither of them notice the undignified rage clouding the heiress' face. But Ruby does.

"Trying does not qualify her for being here, or else every unworthy peasant could have gotten in Beacon." Weiss shoots coldly. "But then, _you_ are here."

The atmosphere seems to have frozen. Blake narrows her eyes.

"And _what_ exactly do you mean by that?"

It's not a question, but a challenge, daring the heiress to continue.

Ruby shoots out her bed just before Weiss can reply.

"Exam!" She exclaims and hops around the room with a forced grin, fumbling for her cloth and gear. She intentionally bumps into everything and makes a huge ruckus wherever she moves, so that the noise keeps distracting the pair of polar opposite.

The Schnee family has always been anti-Shadow, proclaiming their prowess in the Light trait as the true power of justice the world needs. Weiss was brought up firmly believing this, and she has made it painfully obvious what she thought of Blake, who is herself a Shadow trait user. Ruby honestly never wants to see that can of worm open ever again.

She can feel Weiss' glare on her back, but she keeps moving. As she is putting on her belt, she finally hears a huff from the heiress as she walks out of the room.

Ruby's shoulders sag and her legs nearly give out under her. Yang swoops in and gives her a hug.

"Hey, take it easy there." She whispers.

Ruby returns a small nod and looks up to the approaching Blake.

"Thanks." The Faunus says and pats her hair. It appears Yang has been rubbing off on her, maybe a bit too much. "I appreciate you stopping the fight, Ruby. But Weiss can't keep this up."

"It's my fault." She lowers her head. "She's stressed, and I'm no good-"

"You are not 'no good'!" Yang gasps in horror and tightens her hug. "You are a great leader, Ruby."

"Yang's right, you know." Blake agrees easily. "Besides, I'm sure there's some great Hunters or Huntresses out there who are also fifty-fifty."

"Name me one." Ruby mumbles. When Blake and Yang exchanges glances but could provide no answer, she sighs. "Yeah."

She pries herself out of her sister's bear hug and shuffles to the door, dejected. All she can think about is the undisguised contempt on Weiss' face earlier.

Any trace of the half-awaken dream from this morning has vanished.

* * *

"So, same plan?" Yang yells over her Scroll.

Ruby puts down her scope and smiles, even though she knows her sister won't see. "Yeah. But don't run too far ahead of Blake this time. The combo won't work if you are too far apart."

"Roger that." She can almost hear the playful salute. Ruby shakes her head and peers into her scope again.

Two hundred yards ahead, a wisp of smoke speeds through the thickets. Her heart skips a beat. _So it begins._ She grasps her sniper rifle a bit tighter.

"Target spotted. A hundred yards from you guys. North-northwest."

"Show time!" Yang laughs. "Ready, kitty cat?"

"I'm going to strangle you after this exam." Blake replies dryly.

Ruby shifts her scope so she can watch her sister and her partner getting ready for the oncoming battle. It still mesmerizes her every time to see Blake transform. The elegance and deathly beauty of the black panther from her Shadow trait is simply breathtaking.

 _Full moon bright as pearl. Shadowy forest shuffling silently over her._

" _No. No!"_

 _It hurts. It hurts so much._

" _Bring her back. Bring her back now!"_

 _A lone howl echoed in the night, rising up and up and…_

Ruby shivers. She takes her eye off the scope again to look to her partner, who stands four feet away, still as a statue.

"Uhhh, Weiss?"

"What?" Comes her cold reply.

"I was just wondering, what's your Grimm form?"

The heiress glares at her, but soon realizes there is no malice in the question. It's simple curiosity she has gotten used to. She turns away and looks straight ahead, silent.

Just when Ruby is about to give up on the obviously unwelcomed question, the heiress speaks.

"I don't know."

Her voice is softer than Ruby expects. She tilts her head in slight confusion.

Weiss seems to have understood the unspoken question. She sighs and rubs her left eye. "I tried to find out once. That's how I got this."

"You lost control?"

"No." The heiress snaps. She glares at Ruby for a long moment, then turns stiffly away. "My father saw."

"Oh."

Ruby could never understand why people despise one trait or another so wholeheartedly. Sure, she gets preference. Some people like to keep their human form, using only Aura and Semblance from their Light trait; and some people enjoy the power that only the transformation from their Shadow trait could provide. But in the end, as long as one does not go beyond the point of no return, both forms are the same person, aren't they?

Apparently not to the Schnee. Weiss made it abundantly clear what she thinks of the Shadow-users. She even despises the Light-users who switched side.

Ruby hopes to change her partner's opinion about that, and in fact it seems to be working. For the first week, Weiss refuses to be in the same room as Blake once she discovered her panther form, often leaving the dorm in favor of the library. But nowadays she does not even look up when Blake walks into the room anymore.

Okay, maybe the change has more to do with practicality, but Ruby will take wins wherever she can.

"Why?"

"Huh?

Weiss shoots her another impatient glare. "Why do you ask?"

Pieces of the shadowy forests flashes back into her mind. Ruby forces herself to smile cheerfully. "Just wondering."

She is counting on the fact Weiss won't be interested to know hers. And she is correct.

But suddenly Weiss tenses, her hand going to the rapier strapped on her side. Ruby looks back to where Yang and Blake are, and her heart sinks.

"Trap!" She shouts into her Scroll. "Retreat!"

"Will… try!" Yang groans. "But we're a bit- shit!"

Ruby sees the wisp of smoke consolidating around her sister, despite flame shooting all over her body and limbs. The black Panther that's Blake's Grimmalization tries futilely to get to her partner, but is beat back again and again.

The second Husk is sneaking up behind them.

Ruby scrambles up and launches herself off the cliff. From the small curse behind, she knows Weiss is following close.

She activates her Semblance to boost her running speed. It is not enough. When she breaks through the treeline, she sees her sister and Blake tossed to the side by the two Husks.

Weiss arrives behind her. With a flick of her wrist, she activates her Semblance to slow the impact of her teammates.

"Oh great." Ruby hears her mumble.

They have always relied on Blake and Yang's combo to get through their enemies, considering Ruby and Weiss still have trouble coordinating their attack. Weiss is a splendid Light-user, but Ruby is neither. Her Semblance can boost her speed only slightly, and she does not know how to transform like Blake does. Ruby barely know what to do with herself, let alone Weiss.

"See if you can wake up those two."

Presently, Weiss takes a step forward, scowling.

"But-"

"They are our only method of attack." Weiss shoots her a stern look.

Ruby could taste the accusation underneath. It's because she's so weak that Weiss has to hold off the two Husks by herself. It's because of her Blake and Yang are injured. She lowers her head in shame.

"Wake them up fast." And with that, Weiss shoots forward, engaging the two Husks.

Ruby rushes to her sister's side. Yang is pretty banged up, but none of her injuries look life-threatening. She breaths a sign of relief.

"Yang." She shakes her shoulders gently. "Yang, can you hear me?"

Yang is unresponsive.

Ruby runs to Blake next and gets the same result. She continues the dash back and forth for several more minutes, until a loud smack grabs her attention and she turns just in time to see Weiss sailing through the air like a rag doll.

She is fast enough to catch her partner, but underestimates the force she's thrown with. With a slight yelp on Ruby's part, they collapse together on the ground.

She sits up groggily and shakes her head clear. "Ow, sorry about the rough landing…"

That's when she realizes her partner is not moving either.

"Weiss?"

Carefully, she turns her over. And freezes.

 _Castle burning. Broken pillar. White dress stained crimson._

" _Take her and run."_

 _She can't. She can't. She can't._

" _You can do it. I know you can. You are faster than the wind."_

 _Red like her anger. Red like her tear. Red like…_

"No." She whispers, clutching her partner's body to her chest. "No. Not again. Not… Nonononononononononononono…"

The Husks stalk closer. Like the phantom in her nightmare. She lays her friend down gently, and stands up. The power pulses in sync with her heartbeat. Fast. Strong. Threatening to tear through her skin.

She drops her scythe.

"Ruby?" A voice calls from faraway. It sounds like her sister. She wants to respond, but the shadow in her won't allow it.

She takes one step forward.

"Ughhhhh… What's going on?" She can barely recognize Blake's voice, even though her senses were becoming alarmingly sharp with each passing moment.

Another step.

She hears a howl. A wolf's howl. So alone and angry and…

"Oh no."

"Yang? What's happening?"

…and she wants to break if all. Tear them to pieces, and then tear those pieces to dust. To nothing. Just like how she's been left inside. Just like-

"Ruby no!"

Just like what they did to her mother.


	8. 3-2 - Reign

She hears voices. Familiar voices.

"I'm afraid you all will have to leave."

"But Headmaster-"

"This is not up for debate. She needs rest."

"Sir, with all due respect-"

"I understand your concern, but I cannot-"

"She is my fucking _sister_!"

Yang. That's Yang, isn't it? She wants to call out to her. To tell her everything's alright. But her eyes are glued shut and her limbs filled with all the lead in the world. She is frozen in darkness, nailed down by gnawing fear.

The monster under her bed crawls out of her nightmare. She can feel it slowly dragging its formless body on top of hers. It has been waiting for years. After the first taste of her weakness, it's decided to claim her.

"That's precisely why you are kept out."

They must be mere meters away, yet all she can hear is the wolf howling in the back of her head. The ashen taste of flaming wood and fear, fear, so much fear in the air. Claws sharper than knife cutting through her soul, drawn by the smell of her despair.

"Professor Ozpin, she's slipping!"

"Glynda, with me. Port, escort them out, please."

She can feel it burrowing its way through her nostrils, her ears, even her closed eyelids. Like smoke. A darkness only she can sense.

"It's okay. You are okay now."

She is cursed. Everything she touches withers. Don't they understand?

"Hear my words, and come back."

They don't understand. They can't help her.

She hears a horrible scream. It sounds like her own voice. But how can she scream without opening her mouth? How can she do anything when she is buried deep within the beast?

"Come back to us."

The voice is persistent, patient, and commanding. It is a lightning cutting through the storm. It is a hand that pulls her out from the belly of the beast. She is a leaf twirling in the current. There is nothing she can do, fighting it or following it.

Another horrific scream, and is that explosion she hears? The sounds are all confused and distorted. A tree falling to the ground. A house crackling in the night. A sweet lullaby half-remembered and half-imagined. A lighthouse in a cave.

"Come back."

 _I'm so sorry._ Her mother kneeled by her bedside when she was fast asleep. It was raining in their home. A kiss light as petal rested on her forehead. _Raven needs me._

She had known she would never return. Yet she made the choice. Cloaked with the moonlight, she had stole into the night, leaving everything and everyone behind.

 _Come back._ She had pleaded thousands times since. Into the forest where they used to traverse, into the stars who listened to her gentle lullaby, into the fading scent of clothes that would never be worn.

And who was ever there to answer?

A gentle light touches her. It is foreign, but not at all unfamiliar. It is a picture blurred by time, a song long forgotten, but one taken root so deep in her heart she cannot deny. She crawls up against the warmth and let it comfort her.

"Poor girl." As she drifts off, she hears a woman's voice. It is stern but gentle. "All these years… Ozpin, this is cruel."

"I know."

She feels a large hand pushing hair out of her face. Callous, hard, and cold.

"But what else is there to do? She is Summer's daughter."

She wants to open her eyes and ask him what he means by that. But she is tired. So tired…

"Do you intend for her to take her mother's place?"

"I hope she doesn't have to." The man replies softly. "The others haven't forgiven themselves."

She tried to be what her mother was supposed to be. The hero in storybooks. That night, years ago, when she sneaked out of bed and wandered into the forest. She thought it was bravery, but it was foolishness.

She has forced herself to forget, all the pains and despairs. And in the process she has buried the truth of herself, crushed it under the boulders of ignorance.

But she has always known it's there. Like she has always known what happened that night in the forest. It isn't just the distraught faces of her father and uncle that she remembers, not just the dancing shadow from their flame and the cold metal that bites into her limbs. She knows it like she knows her own shadow.

She knows the black wolf is still howling inside her, waiting to break free. It has tasted the thrill of the hunt, the glory of battle, and it wants more. She's afraid if she doesn't keep it in the darkness, it will rip the world to pieces.

She knows this. She knows all these all along.

"The strength within you is strong, whether or not you want it, child."

She just doesn't want to remember.

"One day the time will come…"

The words fade away like static from a snowy television screen.

* * *

She is reading when she hears footsteps coming down the corridor.

She knows she isn't supposed to be up. The nurse told her so. Even Professor Goodwitch, with a rather terrifying glare. So she hides the book under her pillow and slips into the cover as quietly and as quickly as she can.

The footsteps stop before her room. She tenses in anticipation.

 _Come on. Just open the door and get this over with._

Instead she hears voices again.

"This is decidingly a bad idea." Weiss hisses. "We shouldn't be here! The Headmaster said so."

"Well, you can go back." Yang shoots back impatiently, and receives a quiet reprimand from Blake to not wake up the whole school. She lowers her voice, but not her anger. "I am going to see my baby sister."

Ruby hears the handle turning.

Then it stops, like someone is stopping Yang from opening the door.

"You can see her after she's well again." Weiss argues. "You can get her and _us_ expelled over this."

There is a small _pop_ , like a firecracker going off inside a stone cup. Ruby imagines Yang's eyes turning red. She can swear she feels heat seeping through the door.

But before Yang can lash out at the interruption, Blake interjects.

"Well," she doesn't sound all that annoyed with the heiress, like Ruby normally expects from their interaction. Instead, she appears curious, and perhaps a little perplexed. "Then why did you come with us?"

The silence stretches on.

Ruby waits in the darkness, holding her breath. She wants to open her eyes, maybe even tiptoe to the door to hear better. But the fear of them finding out she is awake and aware of their conversation comes out on top.

What Weiss says, or doesn't say, will likely decide the team dynamic. As a leader, Ruby feels obliged to either be in on the secret or disrupt any further complication.

Also, she is extremely curious about what Weiss will say.

Weiss clears her throat uncomfortably. "I-" she begins.

Alas, another voice appears. A lower, calmer voice.

"I don't imagine Glynda will be too happy to find you girls here."

Ruby winces.

And Weiss lets out an undignified squeal from behind the door.

"Professor!" All the uncertainties melt away into panic. "This is a misunderstanding. We're just-"

"Concerned about Ruby. I understand." Ozpin interjects calmly. He pauses, in what might have been the time he takes to sip his coffee. "Still, I must insist you three return to the dormitory. Immediately."

Ruby has half a mind to jump out of bed and tell Ozpin she is the one asking them here. In hindsight, it's probably not the best idea. Her doing that will only accomplish in adding herself to the list of people who get in trouble that night.

Still, if it could shift the blame away from her team, that is reason enough.

"I just want to see my sister." Yang pleads with the Headmaster. It physically pains Ruby, because Yang _never_ pleads. "I need to make sure she is alright."

"I understand that." Ozpin replies smoothly. "And I have been avoiding saying this, but it has gone far enough."

"Professor?"

"There are two reasons you are not allowed to see her." Ozpin says. "The first one evidently cannot dissuade you. I hope you will reflect on the second, and more important reason."

Ruby sits up on her bed. She does not like where this is going.

"You are all responsible for her losing control." Ozpin tells them. "You did not understand why you are assigned into a team. Being a Huntsman or a Huntress isn't about how powerful you are as an individual, or how well you can control your Light or Shadow trait."

"I understand that." Weiss protests. "But-"

"No. You understand nothing, Ms. Schnee." Ozpin rebuffs her harshly. "You failed at the only lesson that truly matters - supporting one another. It goes for all of you, including Ms. Rose. Have you any idea how many Guardians we lost because of this?"

Ruby's fists ball around the sheet. That's not everything. Her mom wasn't even officially a Guardian, and yet… And yet…

"Professor." Yang's voice is barely audible. No doubt she is thinking what Ruby is. "Did you… did you know? About our moms?"

Ruby shuts her eyes.

" _I'm so sorry." Summer kissed her forehead. She still smelled like chocolate chip cookies and pine. "Raven needs me."_

"Of course." Ozpin says, softer this time. The sorrow is barely an undertone, like a hint of life in the frozen forest. "The Council and Headmasters choose the Guardians, after all."

Ruby tries to imagine the expression on Yang's face, if only to stop herself from being overwhelmed by the emotion. The details involving Raven's disappearance were kept a secret to them throughout their childhood. They always thought it is something that just happens, like a winter storm.

Yang makes a noise that sounds half like an 'oh' and half like she is trying not to strangle the headmaster.

"Go back to your room. Think about what I told you. One day, it may make the difference between life and death." Ozpin says. "I put you in the care of Ms. Rose, and she you. It is up to you to prove I have made the right decision."

The silence that follows is shorter, but more suffocating.

When footsteps receded down the corridor, Ruby realizes she has been crying.

As she wipes the tears away, Ozpin opens the door and slips in without a sound. He doesn't seem surprised to find Ruby awake.

"How much do you know?" Ruby asks.

"Probably as much as you do." The door clicks shut behind him. "Tai may have tried to sugarcoat a lot of the facts, but I believe he has told you everything we know."

"So you don't know why mom went over?" She is still wiping at her face. She hates feeling like this, like she is five years old again and the monster under her bed is real. "You don't know where aunt Raven is?"

"Last I hear, Qrow is the only person who hears anything from her." Ozpin pauses. "It should go without saying, Summer would never have done it if there is any other way."

"I know." Ruby looks away stubbornly. She knows her mother did it to save everyone she loved. But it never got any easier. It never helped erasing that burning question. "…I know."

He watches her for a while, like he is reading a story he already knew.

"Is that why you never accepted your Grimm form?"

Ruby answers him with silence. It's not exactly because the question offends her. She just feels afraid of what she might say.

"Ms. Rose," Ozpin gives her a wry, but comforting smile. "I know talent when I see one. The fact you can't control your Shadow is not a coincidence."

 _Because you are afraid._ His eyes seem to say. _You don't want to repeat history._

Is that what it is? Fear about the Shadow?

But she has no predisposed judgement against Shadow users. Like Blake. Blake is a fantastic fighter, a sensitive friend, and a book-lover to boot. Her panther form is breathtaking, sometimes quite literally.

They will never tell anyone, but Ruby once patted Blake when she was in her Grimm form. She wasn't so fearsome then, purring under her palm and nudging her playfully. Like a cat. A humongous, deadly, but affectionate cat.

What reason does she have to fear it?

Ozpin interrupts her train of thoughts.

"I said _your_ Shadow." He shakes his head. "I have asked before, and now I must do it again. Ms. Rose, why are you here?"

"To-" her words stumbled over one another. "To be a Huntress."

"No, Ms. Rose. That is _what_ you are doing. Not _why_. There are many paths you could have taken, so why this one?"

"I just want-" she swallows the lump in her throat. "I just want to be a hero. I just want to help."

"Like how Summer was?"

His words grip around her throat, tightening like a python before it devours its prey. She struggles against it, shaking her head and pulling, pulling at air that refuses to leave.

"No."

This feels like betrayal. Because he must know but he is making her say it. And that pill is more bitter than she can stand.

"Because no one saved her."

 _Because no one saved me._

Ozpin says nothing to that, and gives no indication of what he thinks of her reason. However, he does speak again.

"Summer once tested 70-70. Did you know that?"

Ruby shakes her head, startled.

"It's never published, of course. And she was never tested again." Ozpin continues. "Only a selective few know. And we all would have taken the secret to our graves."

"Then why?"

"Because I am not Tai, and I need to ask you what you want to do with it."

Ruby takes a deep breath, and makes a decision that shapes the world.


	9. 3-3 - From Beyond

"Are you going to take long?"

The way Weiss is tapping her feet - boots flattening the snow until it's nothing more than compact, unyielding ice - would have worried Ruby, three years ago.

"Hang on." She says as she extracts a package from her shirt.

-but then again, Weiss wouldn't be here if things are still like three years ago.

The package weighs little compared to Crescent Rose. The rough texture of the cowhide rustling under her thumb. She fiddles with the wrapping.

She's certain Weiss has seen it. If not in their dorm, then definitely during their short travel. Ruby could almost positively identify the curiosity when their eyes

Weiss doesn't ask. She never asks about the trips, about Ruby's childhood, or what she thinks about when she visits. In fact, this is the first time the heiress accompanied her. Weiss kind of just… showed up. Ruby nearly dropped her coffee when Weiss cleared her throat behind her.

When asked what she was doing there, the heiress gave her a look like it should be obvious.

When asked whether she knew where they were going, Weiss told her to hurry up and go get her ticket, or they wouldn't make the departure. And that's unacceptable because they need to be present for their graduation exam.

Ruby is content enough to not ask why.

She lays the package on the gravestone before standing up, dusting the snow on her knees.

"I'll come back." She says. "Once I prove I'm worthy to wear it."

Weiss' features look less rigid when she turns around, no doubt softened by the flurry around them. She holds Ruby's gaze for a couple seconds, longer than she normally would.

"Come on." She tells her. "We are going to be late."

But she doesn't move from her spot. The tapping of her boots has seized at some point.

Ruby almost regrets not introducing her to her mom, but she figures it might be a bit awkward for her partner to talk to a headstone. Maybe weird is a better word for it, considering her mom isn't buried here either.

Well, there are only two momento she left behind. One is pinned against Ruby's shoulders, and the other is sitting on the stone.

She smiles a little at the irony. This is the only time the grave houses anything remotely close to her mom.

Perhaps that is never its purpose. The funeral she couldn't quite recall, this headstone they erected, even the words carved on it - perhaps they aren't to offer a resting place for the dead, but to give temporary comfort to the living.

"Stop smiling like that." Weiss says.

Ruby blinks away her thoughts. "What?"

"Don't smile when you don't mean it." Weiss repeats, looking at the patch of snow by Ruby's feet. "The one good thing about you is your honesty."

Ruby grins. "The _one_ good thing?"

Weiss rolls her eyes, but Ruby catches the barest uptwist of her lips.

"Don't push it." She warns, though Ruby knows her well enough to know she doesn't really mean it. And Weiss knows she knows. "Let's go. You _don't_ want to be late today."

Ruby nods, dismissing the lingering doubts as best as she could. Regardless of what she feels, she needs to focus. It's not just her career on the line. Her whole team depend on her passing this final exam with flying colors.

"I won't fail you." She tells Weiss. "No matter what happens."

"I know." Weiss turns, beginning to leave. She stops after only two steps. "Oh, and Ruby?"

"Yes?"

Weiss looks over her shoulder, bright cerulean eyes reflecting the soft and sincere snow drifting about them.

 _Castle. A bundle in her arms. She will give her life to keep this promise._

"Try not to get hurt."

* * *

In her dream, the world is ending. She saw the familiar cliff, coated by dust instead of snowflake, and a sun glowing dark shadows as the end approached.

She was the last in a race for the first time, in the competition of death where the entire world participated. When it was finally her time to cross that line, she felt relieved. And… a little confused?

A blurry figure. A firm shake.

Ruby blinks awake.

"We are here." She hears Ozpin's voice.

Ruby keeps blinking, trying to clear her head. Was he the shadow she saw in the dream?

"Something troubling you?" He asks when she sits up.

"No." She denies out of habit. "Just a bad dream."

Ozpin regards her with that knowing glance that annoys her. "Dreams are rarely just dreams."

She shrugs coyly. "That's why some of us follow them."

Ozpin nods, distracted, like he doesn't notice the jibe, or doesn't care. He disappears into the cockpit shortly.

Ruby rolls her shoulders back, popping stiff joints. She makes for the door as well, searching for the pilot's name in her mind. It would be rude to thank someone without knowing or asking for their name. Or at least that's what Weiss said.

The door swings open before she reaches the handle. Ruby leans back just in time to avoid a concussion as Ozpin strides out with purpose.

"Let us make haste." The headmaster says. "A fog shrouds over the road, dispelled by neither sun nor wind."

Minutes later, they are standing on solid ground. Their luggages and equipment shaking slightly as the Fighter IV lift off. Ruby squints against the wind, marveling at the smooth purring of the engine, the sleek body shaped like a .50 caliber piercing round, and ingenuity materialized.

The pilot sees her watching, and waves. Ruby returns the gesture, trying to see beyond the glare of the windshield.

The hum from the four turbo engines intensify, roaring their exertion as the metal bird pushes off the ground. They watch it climbing on rocky wind, ascending gradually to cobalt grey sky.

"Sometimes one loses perspective from such height." Ozpin remarks.

Ruby tilts her head. "Is that an observation or a lesson?"

Ozpin chuckles. "Sometimes they are one and the same."

She supposes that makes sense.

"If it doesn't, it wouldn't be a very good lesson, now would it?"

"I guess."

"Life is a series of lessons, Ms. Rose. There is always something to be learned with each experience. Good or bad."

"Then what does it make death?"

Ozpin reaches to his back, and produces a coffee mug from thin air.

"Do you understand why there are more solo missions as you progress through the years?"

Ruby spares only a second to wonder where he has been hiding the container.

"Because despite all precautions, we often find ourselves facing challenges on our own." She tries to keep her voice leveled and confident, but her tone still shifted up at the end, transforming the response into a question. To compensate that, she adds, "both in the field, and in our daily lives."

"Quite eloquently put." Ozpin raises an eyebrow as he sips. "More formal than I expect of you."

She chuckles. "Weiss helped."

They start walking. A comfortable silence settles between them. For a while, they enjoy the view of the countryside.

The barrenness of the Border looks nothing like the hinterlands found in her home islands, or other remote villages she had traveled to for missions. Fields of broken rocks litter both sides of the dirt road. There are no tree, and very little vegetation. Only nameless flowers sway with their footsteps.

The Beyond looms in the distance, shrouded by a mist that never thinned since the creation of civilization. It is true desolation, for the light never reaches the peaks, and the valleys cast no shadows.

Ruby has pictured them many times before. They are the last things her mom looked upon before she took her last breath. She has often wondered what she must have felt.

It's strange. She feels closer to her mom here than she was back at the cliff.

"Professor, can I ask you something?"

"Naturally."

"I know all staff help out in this exam, but…" She tugs at her collar. The weight of the backpack pulls her shirt back, pressuring her throat. "Did you choose to supervise me?"

"Would you believe me if I said it's purely coincidence?"

"No." She grins a little. "But I'd know you are a terrible liar."

"Many people would beg to differ." Ozpin muses, returning the smile. "They think I am always conniving some grand master plan."

Ruby shrugs, neither supporting nor denying the theory.

"Fair enough." Ozpin gives her a meaningful look. "The ability to plan, scheme, or connive - it is often required for those in a position of power."

Ruby says nothing.

"You and Ms. Schnee are both in such position."

"Weiss is a great leader."

"So are you." Ozpin says. "And you have the potential to be so much more."

"All I'm trying to be is someone who can help those in need." Ruby replies. This time successfully keeping her voice even. "Nothing more. Nothing less."

"I respect that." Ozpin caresses the top of his cane-sword. Perhaps he is remembering the first time they had this debate, three years ago in the hospital room, in the middle of the night. "Others might not."

"I've tried to make up for the difference." Ruby protests mildly. "Is it still not enough?"

He thinks about all those times he caught glimpses of her training. Inside and outside of classroom. Being the headmaster, of course he received all the reports on her. Both of her successes and failures.

For most people, the degree of growth she has achieved within these four short years is miraculous. Her attributes never changed, but she has more than made up for it with her natural instinct at strategy and unrelenting training on refining her fighting skills.

Her team has easily triumphed in the Vytal Festivals for two years in a row, and she has received high praises and much adoration as the reigning champion. They have saved countless lives all across the continent. Being involved in numerous high-profile cases. Assisted in double the amount of missions expected of the average graduates.

They are the stars of this generation. And Ruby is one of the most brilliant light.

Yet…

"You are just like Summer."

Ruby stops in her track. She didn't realize Ozpin has halted. When she turns, he is not looking at her anymore. His gaze rests on the colorless mountains of the Beyond.

And she knows. He never forgot how enthusiastic he felt about her mom's future. Because he had been wrong, and people are still suffering for it.

"It will never be enough."

* * *

They are running.

Ruby can see the Scroll in the corner of her vision. Professor Goodwitch's face is quite recognizable, even as a tiny image on the screen, and from three steps away.

"When is the last time he reported in?" Ozpin is asking. His voice is calm and smooth, but his eyes _burn_. "And what is the ETA for reinforcement?"

"Five days, even with a Fighter." She pauses. "But that's _proper_ reinforcement."

Ozpin spares a quick glance before refocusing on running.

"The girls heard." Glynda explains, half annoyed and half concerned. "They escaped from Bartholomew after the exam."

Ruby catches Ozpin's eyes. Her heart sinks when she sees his intention.

"Send them our coordinates." He instructs his second-in-command. "And initialize the protocol."

Glynda tenses. She doesn't seem to agree with either of his decisions, but she obeys nevertheless. "Yes, headmaster."

"Keep them safe, headmistress." He replies calmly, like he is asking her to prepare coffee.

Glynda scowls, like she was forced to taste tar. "Only until you return." Then, she hangs up.

They reach the wall shortly after. As they climb the unmanned stairs, Ozpin hums to himself.

"I forgot to ask about their location." He says. "But I reckon it shouldn't take more than three days."

Ruby bites her lower lip. On one hand, she does not want to involve her team. This is beyond anything they have ever encountered. Even with Ozpin here, she still thinks this is more like suicide than an actual mission.

On the other hand, that is precisely why they _need_ them.

"Maybe we can hold the border by ourselves." She suggests meekly.

As soon as the words leave her mouth, she knows she is only trying to lie to herself. And it isn't working.

Ozpin's expression is unreadable.

"I might not know Mr. Roland well, but he is a capable, not to mention experienced Guardian." He says. "He has held this wall for six years."

 _He could have slipped up_. Ruby wants to argue. _All it takes is one wrong move_.

But she knows in her heart it's not that simple. She can sense the terrible hollowness even before Ozpin received the call from Professor Goodwitch.

They run past half-collapsed walls, upturned furnitures, and floor spotted with dark stains. The passage leading to the stair stands askew, like a drunken soldier. They climb two steps at a time, racing and dreading what they might find at the top.

When they emerge into daylight again, Ruby is fairly convinced they are transported to a different world.

The land leading to the Beyond is covered in what might at first glance pass as a forest of rocks. But when she looks closer, she realizes they are Husks. Thousands, maybe millions of them. An army that stretches from the wall to foot of the shadowless mountains.

Only one figure rises above the ocean of their sworn enemies. A grey figure that looks almost human, riding on a shapeless mount.

Her shock is interrupted when Ozpin does a double take next to her. She is still frozen in place by the sheer impossibility of what she is seeing, but she has enough mind to notice his stiffness. It is the first time she ever sees him waver.

"The King from Beyond." He whispers to himself. "But who? And why?"

The grey figure halts, tilting its chin up. The whole army halts with it, like they are all of a single mind. A unified, unbreakable presence.

Even though it has no eyes, just like any other Husks, Ruby knows the grey figure is looking right their way. Its gaze is neither piercing nor taunting, unlike any enemy she has faced before. There is nothing to it, only a void that beckons.

She feels a tug inside, like a blackhole just formed somewhere between her lungs and heart. All her senses dull to an incoherent blur, as if her body no longer belongs to her.

She tries to ground herself. She tries to think of her duty, her friends, the fate of the world. But all her attempts are useless. She cannot break away from the gaze. As she slips further and further, she registers her growing panic drifting off, yielding to the featureless face…

"Avert!" Ozpin booms, cutting through the haze like thunder. He stands between his pupil and the sight of the Beyond, disrupting her trance.

Everything snaps into focus.

Ruby's knees give out, forcing her to plant Crescent Rose firmly to the ground to stop her collapse. She gasps like she has been starved of air for centuries.

"What _is_ that thing?" She wheezes out when she regained her composure.

"It is easier to answer what it is _not_." Ozpin turns, helping her to her feet. "It is neither alive nor dead. Neither man nor beast. Some names it the Knight of the Void, some calls it the Soul Devourer. I learned of him from tales long lost, as the King from Beyond, for he reigns the edge of the world yonder."

Ruby swallows. It sounds more like a tale from one of her old storybooks. If not for the evidence right before them, she might have thought he is making a fool of her.

"How do we defeat it?" She asks meekly.

Ozpin looks to her, expression blank. Like he doesn't quite understand what she just said.

"There is no victory or defeat." The headmaster says. "Only the never-ending struggle."

Ruby looks out to the field again. The Husks are still motionless, as is the King from Beyond. Ruby looks away from the featureless face quickly, even though she does not feel the pull again.

She can hear its whispers, and they terrified her.

What does it mean it's all thanks to her?


End file.
